Name

This
Surah is known by two names -- At-Taubah and Al-Bara'at. It is called
At-Taubah because it enunciates the nature of taubah(repentance) and mentions the
conditions of its acceptance.(vv. 102. 118). The second name Bara'at
(Release) is taken from the first word of the Surah.

Omission
of Bismillah

This
is the only Surah of the Quran to which Bismillahis not prefixed. Though the
commentators have given different reasons for this, the correct one
that which has been given by Imam Razi: namely,this is because the
Holy Prophet himself did not dictate it at the beginning of the
Surah. Therefore the Companions did not prefix it and their
successors followed them., This is a further proof of the fact that
utmost care has been taken to keep the Quran intact so that it should
remain in its complete and original form.

Discourses
and Periods of Revelation

This
Surah comprises three discourses:-

The
first discourse (vv. 1-37), was revealed in Zil-Qa'adah A.H. 9 or
thereabout. As the importance of the subject of the discourse
required its declaration on the occasion of Hajthe Holy Prophet dispatched Hadrat Ali
to follow Hadrat Abu Bakr, who had already left for Makkah as leader
of the Pilgrims to the Ka'abah. He instructed Hadrat Ali to deliver
the discourse before the representatives of the different clans of
Arabia so as to inform them of the new policy towards the mushriks.

The
second discourse (vv., 38-72) was sent down in Rajab A.H. 9 or a
little before this, when the Holy Prophet was engaged in making
preparations for the Campaign, of Tabuk. In this discourse, the
Believers were urged to take active part in Jihad,
and the shirkers were severely rebuked for holding back their wealth
and for hesitation to sacrifice their lives in the way of Allah
because of their hypocrisy, weak faith or negligence.

The
third discourse (vv. 73-129) was revealed on his return from the
Campaign of Tabuk. There are some pieces in this discourse that were
sent down on different occasions during the same period and were
afterwards consolidated by the Holy Prophet into the Surah in
accordance with inspiration from Allah. But this caused no
interruption in its continuity because they dealt with the same
subject and formed part of the same series of events. This discourse
warns the hypocrites of their evil deeds and rebukes those Believers
who had stayed behind in the Campaign of Tabuk. Then after taking
them to task, Allah pardons those true Believers who had not taken
part in the Jihadin the Way of Allah for one reason or
the other.

Chronologically,
the first discourse should have come last; but being the most
important of the three in regard to its subject matter, it was placed
first in the order of compilation.

Historical
Background

Now
let us consider the historical background of the Surah. The series of
events that have been discussed in this Surah took place after the
Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah. By that time, one-third of Arabia had
come under the sway of Islam which had established itself as a
powerful, well organized and civilized Islamic State. This Treaty
afforded further opportunities to Islam to spread its influence in
the comparatively peaceful atmosphere created by it. After this
Treaty, two events took place, which led to very important results:

Conquest
of Arabia

The
first was the Conquest of Arabia. The Holy Prophet was able to send
missions among different clans for the propagation of Islam. The
result was that during the short period of two years, it became such
a great power that it made the old order of ignorance' feel helpless
before it. So much so that the zealous elements from among the
Quraish were so exasperated that they broke the Treaty in order to
encounter Islam in a decisive combat. But the Holy Prophet took
prompt action after the breach so as not to allow them any
opportunity to gather enough force for this. He made a sudden
invasion on Makkah in the month of Ramadan in A. H. 8 and conquered
it. Though this conquest broke the backbone of the order of
ignorance, it made still another attack on Islam in the battle-field
of Hunain, which proved to be its death-knell. The clans of Hawazin
Thaqif, Naur, Jushm and others gathered their entire forces in the
battle field in order to crush the reformative Revolution, but they
utterly failed in their evil designs. The defeat of 'ignorance' at
Hunain paved the way for making the whole of Arabia the 'Abode of
Islam' (Dar-ul-Islam).
The result was that hardly a year had Passed after the Battle of
Hunain, when the major portion of Arabia came within the fold of
Islam and only a few upholders of the old order remained scattered
over some corners of the country.

The
second event that contributed towards making Islam a formidable power
was the Campaign of Tabuk, which was necessitated by the provocative
activities of the Christians living within or near the boundaries of
the Roman Empire to the north of Arabia. Accordingly, the Holy
Prophet, with an army of thirty thousand marched boldly towards the
Roman Empire but the Romans evaded the encounter. The result was that
the power of the Holy Prophet and Islam increased manifold and
deputations from all corners of Arabia began to wait upon him on his
return from Tabuk in order to offer their allegiance to Islam and
obedience to him. The Holy Quran has described this triumph in Surah
An-Nasr: "When the succor of Allah came and victory was attained
and you saw people entering the fold of Islam in large numbers...

Campaign
to Tabuk

The
Campaign to Tabuk was the result of conflict with the Roman Empire,
that had started even before the conquest of Makkah. One of the
missions sent after the Treaty of Hudaibiyah to different parts of
Arabia visited the clans which lived in the northern areas adjacent
to Syria. The majority of these people were Christians, who were
under the influence of the Roman Empire. Contrary to all the
principles of the commonly accepted international law, they killed
fifteen members of the delegation near a place known as Zat-u-Talah
(or Zat-i-Itlah). Only Ka'ab bin Umair Ghifari, the head of the
delegation, succeeded in escaping and reporting the sad incident.
Besides this, Shurahbll bin Amr, the Christian governor of Busra, who
was directly under the Roman Caesar, had also put to death Haritli
bin Umair, the ambassador of the Holy Prophet, who had been sent to
him on a similar minion.

These
events convinced the Holy Prophet that a strong action should be
taken in order to make the territory adjacent to the Roman Empire
safe and secure for the Muslims. Accordingly, in the month of
Jamadi-ul-Ula A. H. 8, he sent an army of three thousand towards the
Syrian border. When this army reached near Ma'an, the Muslims learned
that Shurahbil was marching with an army of one hundred thousand to
fight-with them and that the Caesar, who himself was at Hims, had
sent another army consisting of one hundred thousand soldiers under
his brother Theodore. But in spite of such fearful news, the brave
small band of the Muslims marched on fearlessly and encountered the
big army of Shurahbil at M'utah. And the result of the encounter in
which the Muslims were fighting against fearful odds (the ratio of
the two armies was 1:33), as very favorable, for the enemy utterly
failed to defeat them. This proved very helpful for the propagation
of Islam. As a result, those Arabs who were living in a state of semi
independence in Syria and near Syria and the clans of Najd near Iraq,
who were under the influence of the Iranian Empire, turned towards
Islam and embraced it in thousands. For example, the people of Bani
Sulaim (whose chief was Abbas bin Mirdas Sulaimi), Ashja'a, Ghatafan,
Zubyan, Fazarah, etc., came into the fold of Islam at the same time.
Above all, Farvah bin 'Amral Juzami, who was the commander of the
Arab armies of the Roman Empire, embraced Islam during that time, and
underwent the trial of his Faith in a way that filled the whole
territory with wonder. When the Caesar came to know that Farvah had
embraced Islam, he ordered that he should be arrested and brought to
his court. Then the Caesar said to him, "You will have to choose
one of the two things. Either give up your Islam and win your liberty
and your former rank, or remain a Muslim and face death." He
calmly chose Islam and sacrificed his life in the way of the Truth.

No
wonder that such events as these made the Caesar realize the nature
of the danger that was threatening his Empire from Arabia.
Accordingly, in 9 A.H. he began to make military preparations to
avenge the insult he had suffered at M'utah. The Ghassanid and other
Arab chiefs also began to muster armies under him. When the Holy
Prophet, who always kept himself well-informed even of the minutest
things that could affect the Islamic Movement favorably or adversely,
came to know of these preparations, he at once under- stood their
meaning. Therefore, without the least hesitation he decided to fight
against the great power of the Caesar. He knew that the show of the
slightest weakness would result in the utter failure of the Movement
which was facing three great dangers at that time. First the dying
power of 'ignorance' that had almost been crushed in the battle-field
of Hunain might revive again. Secondly, the Hypocrites of Al:
Madinah, who were always on the look-out for such an opportunity,
might make full use of this to do the greatest possible harm to it.
For they had already made preparations for this and had, through a
monk called Abu Amir, sent secret messages of their evil designs to
the Christian king of Ghassan and the Caesar himself. Besides this,
they had also built a mosque near Al-Madinah for holding secret
meetings for this purpose. The third danger was of an attack by the
Caesar himself, who had already defeated Iran, the other great power
of that period, and filled with awe the adjacent territories.

It
is obvious that if all these three elements had been given an
opportunity of taking a concerted action against the Muslims, Islam
would have lost the fight it had almost won. That is why in this case
the Holy Prophet made an open declaration for making preparations for
the Campaign against the Roman Empire, which was one of the two
greatest empires of the world of that period. The declaration was
made though all the apparent circumstances were against such a
decision: for there was famine in the country and the long awaited
crops were about to ripen: the burning heat of the scorching summer
season of Arabia was at, its height and there was not enough money
for preparations in general, and for equipment and conveyance in
particular. But in spite of these handicaps, when the Messenger of
Allah realized the urgency of the occasion, he took this step which
was to decide whether the Mission of the Truth was going to survive
or perish. The very fact that he made an open declaration for making
preparations for such a campaign to Syria against the Roman Empire
showed how important it was, for this was contrary to his previous
practice. Usually he took every precaution not to reveal beforehand
the direction to which he was going nor the name of the enemy whom he
was going to attack; nay, he did not move out of Al-Madinah even in
the direction of the campaign.

All
the parties in Arabia fully realized the grave consequences of this
critical decision. The remnants of the lovers of the old order of
'ignorance' were anxiously waiting for the result of the Campaign,
for they had pinned all their hopes on the defeat of Islam by the
Romans. The 'hypocrites' also considered it to be their last chance
of crushing the power of Islam by internal rebellion, if the Muslims
suffered a defeat in Syria. They had, therefore, made full use of the
Mosque built by them for hatching plots and had employed all their
devices to render the Campaign a failure. On the other side, the true
Believers also realized fully that the fate of the Movement for which
they had been exerting their utmost for the last 22 years was now
hanging in the balance. If they showed courage on that critical
occasion, the doors of the whole outer world would be thrown open for
the Movement to spread. But if they showed weakness or cowardice,
then all the work they had done in Arabia would -end in smoke.

That
is why these lovers of Islam began to make enthusiastic preparations
for the Campaign. Everyone of them tried to surpass the other in
making contributions for the provision of equipment for it. Hadrat
Uthman and Hadrat Abdur Rehman bin Auf presented large sums of money
for this purpose. Hadrat Umar contributed half of the earnings of his
life and Hadrat Abu Bakr the entire earnings of his life. The
indigent Companions did not lag behind and presented whatever they
could earn by the sweat of their labor and the women parted with
their ornaments. Thousands of volunteers, who were filled with the
desire of sacrificing their lives for Islam, came to the Holy Prophet
and requested that arrangements for weapons and conveyance be made
for them so that they should join the expedition. Those who could not
be provided with these shed tears of sorrow; the scene was so
pathetic that it made the Holy Prophet sad because of his inability
to arm them. In short, the occasion became the touchstone for
discriminating a true believer from a hypocrite. For, to lag behind
in the Campaign meant that the very relationship of a person to Islam
was doubtful. Accordingly, whenever a person lagged behind during the
journey to Tabuk, the Holy Prophet, on being informed, would
spontaneously say, "Leave him alone. If there be any good in
him, Allah will again join him with you, and if there be no good in
him, then thank Allah that He relieved you of his evil company".

In
short, the Holy Prophet marched out towards Syria in Rajab A. H. 9,
with thirty thousand fighters for the cause of Islam. The conditions
in which the expedition was undertaken may be judged from the fact
that the number of camels with them was so small that many of them
were obliged to walk on foot and to wait for their turns for several
had to ride at a time on each camel. To add to this, there was the
burning heat of the desert and the acute shortage of water. But they
were richly rewarded for their firm resolve and sincere adherence to
the cause and for their perseverance in the face of those great
difficulties and obstacles.

When
they arrived at Tabuk, they learned that the Caesar and his allies
had withdrawn their troops from the frontier and there was no enemy
to fight with. Thus they won a moral victory that increased their
prestige manifold and, that too, without shedding a drop of blood.

In
this connection, it is pertinent to point out that the general
impression given by the historians of the campaigns of the Holy
Prophet about the Campaign of Tabuk is not correct. They relate the
event in a way as if the news of the mustering of the Roman armies
near the Arabian frontier was itself false. The fact is that the
Caesar had begun to muster his armies, but the Holy Prophet
forestalled him and arrived on the scene before he could make full
preparations for the invasion. Therefore, believing that "discretion
is the better part of valor," he withdrew his armies from the
frontier. For he had not forgotten that the three thousand fighters
for the cause of Islam had rendered helpless his army one hundred
thousand strong at M'utah. He could not, therefore, even with an army
of two hundred thousand, dare to fight against an army of thirty
thousand, and that, too, under the leadership of the Holy Prophet
himself.

When
the Holy Prophet found that the Caesar had withdrawn his forces from
the frontier, he considered thee question whether it would be
worthwhile to march into the Syrian territory or to halt at Tabuk and
turn his moral victory to political and strategical advantage. He
decided on the latter course and made a halt for twenty days at
Tabuk. During this time, he brought pressure on the small states that
lay between the Roman Empire and the Islamic State and were at that
time under the influence of the Romans, and subdued and made them the
tributaries of the Islamic State. For instance, some Christian chiefs
Ukaidir bin Abdul Malik Kindi of Dumatul Jaiidal, Yuhanna bin D'obah
of Allah, and the chiefs of Maqna, Jarba' and Azruh also submitted
and agreed to pay Jizyahto the Islamic State of Al- Madinah.
As a result of this, the boundaries of the Islamic State were
extended right up to the Roman Empire, and the majority of the Arab
clans, who were being used by the Caesar against Arabia, became the
allies of the Muslims against the Romans.

Above
all, this moral victory of Tabuk afforded a golden opportunity to the
Muslims to strengthen their hold on Arabia before entering into a
long conflict with the Romans. For it broke the back of those who had
still been expecting that the old order of 'ignorance' might revive
in the near future, whether they were the open upholders of shirkor the hypocrites who were hiding
their shirkunder the garb of Islam. The majority
of such people were compelled by the force of circumstances to enter
into the fold of Islam and, at least, make it possible for their
descendants to become true Muslims. After this a mere impotent
minority of the upholders of the old order was left in the field, but
it could not stand in the way of the Islamic Revolution for the
perfection of which Allah had sent His Messenger.

Problems
of the Period

If
we keep in view the preceding background, we can easily find out the
problems that were confronting the Community at that time. They were:

to
make the whole of Arabia a perfect Dar-ul-Islam,

to
extend the influence of Islam to the adjoining countries,

to
crush the mischiefs of the hypocrites, and

to
prepare the Muslims for Jihadagainst the non- Muslim world.

Now
that the administration of the whole of Arabia had come in the hands
of the Believers, and all the opposing powers had become helpless,
it was necessary to make a clear declaration of that policy which
was to be adopted to make her a perfect Dar-ul-Islam.
Therefore the following measures were adopted:

A
clear declaration was made that all the treaties with the mushrikswere abolished and the Muslims would
be released from the treaty obligations with them after a respite
of four months.(vv. 1-3). This declaration was necessary for
uprooting completely the system of life based on shirkand to make Arabia exclusively the
center of Islam so that it should not in any way interfere with the
spirit of Islam nor become an internal danger for it.

A
decree was issued that the guardianship of the Ka`abah, which held
central position in all the affairs of Arabia, should be wrested
from the mushriksand placed permanently in the hands
of the Believers, (vv. 12-18) that all the customs and practices of
the shirkof the era of 'ignorance' should be
forcibly abolished: that the mushriksshould not be allowed even to come
near the "House" (v. 28). This was to eradicate every
trace of shirkfrom the "House" that was
dedicated exclusively to the worship of Allah.

The
evil practice of Nasi,
by which they used to tamper with the sacred months in the days of
'ignorance', was forbidden as an act of kufr(v.
37). This was also to serve as an example to the Muslims for
eradicating every vestige of the customs of ignorance from the life
of Arabia (and afterwards from the lives of the Muslims
everywhere).

In
order to enable the Muslims to extend the influence of Islam outside
Arabia, they were enjoined to crush with sword the non- Muslim
powers and to force them to accept the sovereignty of the Islamic
State. As the great Roman and Iranian Empires were the biggest
hindrances in the way, a conflict with them was inevitable. The
object of Jihadwas not to coerce them to accept
Islam they were free to accept or not to accept it-but to prevent
them from thrusting forcibly their deviations upon others and the
coming generations. The Muslims were enjoined to tolerate their
misguidance only to the extent that they might have the freedom to
remain misguided, if they chose to be so, provided that they paid
Jizyah(v. 29) as a sign of their
subjugation to the Islamic State.

The
third important problem was to crush the mischiefs of the
hypocrites, who had hitherto been tolerated in spite of their
flagrant crimes. Now that there was practically no pressure upon
them from outside, the Muslims were enjoined to treat them openly as
disbelievers (v. 73). Accordingly, the Holy Prophet set on fire the
house of Swailim, where the hypocrites used to gather for
consultations in order to dissuade the people from joining the
expedition to Tabuk. Likewise on his return from Tabuk, he ordered
to pull down and burn the 'Mosque' that had been built to serve as a
cover for the hypocrites for hatching plots against the true
Believers.

In
order to prepare the Muslims for Jihadagainst the whole non-Muslim world,
it was necessary to cure them even of that slight weakness of faith
from which they were still suffering. For there could be no greater
internal danger to the Islamic Community than the weakness of faith,
especially where it was going to engage itself single-handed in a'
conflict with the whole non-Muslim world. That is why those people
who had lagged behind in the Campaign to Tabuk or had shown the
least negligence were severely taken to task, and were considered as
hypocrites if they had no plausible excuse for not fulfilling that
obligation. Moreover, a clear declaration was made that in future
the sole criterion of a Muslim's faith shall be the exertions he
makes for the uplift of the Word of Allah and the role he plays in
the conflict between Islam and kufr.
Therefore, if anyone will show any hesitation in sacrificing his
life, money, time and energies, his faith shall not be regarded as
genuine. (vv. 81-96).

If
the above-mentioned important points are kept in view during the
study of this Surah, it will facilitate the understanding of its
contents.

Subject:
Problems of Peace and War

In
continuation of Surah Al-Anfal, this Surah also deals with the
problems of peace and war and bases the theme on the Tabuk
Expedition.

Topics
and their Interconnection

This
portion deals with the sanctity of treaties and lays down principles,
rules and regulations which must be kept in view before breaking
them, in case the other party does not observe them sincerely. 1
- 12

In
this portion the Muslims have been urged to fight in the Way of Allah
with the mushrikArabs, the Jews and the Christians,
who were duly warned of the consequences of their mischievous and
inimical behavior. 13
- 37

In
this discourse, the Muslims have been told clearly and explicitly
that they will inherit the rewards promised by Allah only if they
take active part in the conflict with kufr,
for that is the criterion which distinguishes true Muslims from
hypocrites. Therefore true Muslims should take active part in Jihad,
without minding dangers, obstacles, difficulties, temptations and the
like. 38
- 72

This
portion deals with the problems of hypocrites and lays down rules and
regulations governing the treatment that should be meted out to them
and points out their distinctive marks from true Muslims. 73
- 90

This
portion deals with the case of those who remained behind and did not
accompany the Holy Prophet for Jihadto Tabuk. For this purpose they have
been separated in different categories, that is, the disabled, the
sick, the indigent, the hypocrites, the believers who realized their
guilt and punished themselves before the return of the Holy Prophet
from Tabuk and those who confessed their error. Their cases have been
dealt with in accordance with the nature and extent of their offense.
91
- 110

In
order to make their noble qualities look all the more conspicuous and
dignified by contrast, the characteristics of the Believers have been
mentioned, and they have been reassured that Allah, the Sovereign of
the Universe, is their helper and guardian. Accordingly, because of
their sincerity, He has forgiven the Three Believers who did not take
part in the expedition. 111
- 118

In
the concluding portion, general instructions have been given to the
Believers for their guidance. 119
- 127

This
is the conclusion: "Follow the Messenger who is gentle and
compassionate and your greatest well-wisher, and trust in Allah, the
Lord of the Universe". 128
- 129

[1-2]
This is a declaration1
of immunity (from obligations) by Allah and His Messenger to those
mushriks with whom you had made treaties:2
"You are free to move about in the land for four months more:3
but you should know that you cannot frustrate the Will of Allah, and
that Allah will degrade the rejecters of the Truth."

[3-4]
This is a public proclamation from Allah and His Messenger for all
the people on the Day of Great Haj:4
Allah is free from the treaty obligations made with the mushriks and
so is His Messenger. If, therefore, you repent now, it is better for
you but if you turn away, you should know it well that you cannot
frustrate (the Will of) Allah. And, O Prophet, give the good news of
a painful chastisement to the rejecters excepting those mushriks with
whom you made treaties. and who afterwards did not violate these in
the least nor did they give help to anyone against you; so you also
should observe the treaties with such people in accordance with their
terms, for Allah loves the pious people.5

[5-6]
Then, when the months made unlawful6
for fighting expire, kill the mushriks wherever you find them, and
seize them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place
of ambush. But if they repent, and establish Salat and pay the Zakat
dues, then let them go their way:7
for Allah is Forgiving and Compassionate. And if any of the mushriks
requests you for protection so that he may come to you (to hear the
Word of Allah), give him protection till he hears the Word of Allah;
then convey him. to the place of his safety: this should be done
because these people do not know the Truth.8

[7-8]
How shall a treaty with these mushriks be regarded as abiding by
Allah and His Messenger? -excepting those with whom you made a treaty
at the Masjid-i-Haram:9
so long as they behave rightly with you, you also should behave
rightly with them, for Allah loves the righteous people.-But how can
a treaty be regarded as abiding with the other mushriks? Since if
they get power over you, they will not respect ties of kindred with
you nor honor any treaty obligations. They try to conciliate you with
their tongues, while their hearts are averse to their tongues,10
for most of them are evil-doers.11

[9-12]
They bartered away Allah's revelations for paltry worldly gains12
and then debarred others from His Way:13
indeed very evil were the deeds they did. They do not observe the
ties of kindred in regard to the Believers nor observe the
obligations of treaty, and it is they who have always been the
transgressors: yet if they -repent even now, and establish Salat and
pay Zakat dues, then they shall be your brethren in faith. Thus We
make plain Our Messages to those who try to understand.14
But if they break their oaths after making compacts and revile your
Faith you should fight with these ringleaders of disbelief because
their oaths are not trustworthy: it may be that sword alone will
restrain14a
them.15

[13-16]
Will you not fight16
such people who have been breaking their solemn pledges, who
conspired to banish the Messenger and were the first to transgress
against you? Are you afraid of them? If you are true Believers,
surely Allah has a greater right that you should fear Him. Fight
them. Allah will chastise them by your hands and will bring disgrace
and degradation upon them and succor you against them and soothe the
hearts of many believers. And He may remove the wrath of their
hearts; and may also show guidance towards repentance17
to whomsoever He wills; Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. Do you think
that you will be left (without a trial)? Note it well that Allah has
not as yet seen which of you exerted your utmost in His (Allah his
way) and did not take as intimate friends any other than Allah, His
Messenger and the Believers18
Allah has full knowledge of what you do.

[17-20]
It does not behoove the mushriks to become the guardians and servants
of Allah's houses of worship, the while they themselves bear witness
against themselves to their disbelief;19
in fact, all their works have gone to waste20
and they shall abide in the Fire for ever. Only those are worthy of
being the guardians and servants of Allah's houses of worship, who
believe in Allah and the Last Day, and establish Salat and pay Zakat
dues, and fear none but Allah: for these alone are expected to follow
the Right Way. Have you made the mere giving of water to pilgrims and
the guardianship of the Masjid-i-Haram as equal to the works of the
one who has believed in Allah and the Last Day, and exerted his
utmost in the Way of Allah ?21
Well, these things are not equal in the sight of Allah, and Allah
does not show guidance to the workers of iniquity. Those alone who
have believed, and left their homes and exerted their utmost with
their lives and possessions in the Way of Allah, shall have the
highest ranks with Allah: they are truly successful.

[21-22]
Their Lord gives them the good news of His mercy and His pleasure and
of the Gardens, wherein is everlasting bliss for them: therein they
shall abide for ever, for surely Allah has abundance to give rewards
for services.

[23-24]
O Believers, do not take your fathers and brothers as allies, if.
they choose disbelief in preference to Faith; for whoso of you will
take them as allies shall surely be the workers of iniquity. O
Prophet, tell them plainly, "If your fathers and your sons, and
your brothers and your wives, and your near and dear ones and the
wealth which you have acquired and the trade you fear may decline and
the homes which delight you-if all these things-are dearer to you
than Allah and His Messenger and the struggle in His Way, then wait
till Allah passes His judgment on you;22
for Allah does not guide the wicked people"

[25-27]
Allah has helped you on many occasions before this; (recently you
witnessed the glory of His help23
) on the day of the Battle of Hunain; you were proud of your great
numbers which had deluded you but it availed you nothing and the
earth, with all its vastness, became too narrow for you, and turning
your backs, you fled. Then Allah sent down His sakinat (peace and
tranquility) upon His Messenger and the Believers and sent (to your
aid) forces which you could not see and chastised those who denied
the Truth: for this is the due recompense of those who deny the
Truth. Then (you have also seen that) after giving chastisement like
this, Allah guides to repentance whom He wills:24
Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

[28]
O Believers, the mushriks are unclean; therefore let them not come
near the Masjid-i-Haram25
after this year (of their pilgrimage); if you fear poverty Allah will
enrich you, out of His bounty if He wills: for Allah is All-knowing,
All-Wise.

[29]
Fight with those from among the people of the Book, who do not
believe in Allah nor in the Last Day;26
who do not make unlawful that which Allah and His Messenger have made
unlawful,27
and do not adopt the Right way as their way. (Fight with them) until
they pay Jizyah with their own hands and are humbled.28

[30-35]
The Jews say, "Ezra (`Uzair) is the son of Allah,”29
and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of God."
Such are the baseless things they utter with their tongues, following
in the footsteps of the former unbelievers.30
May Allah afflict them with chastisement! Where from are they being
perverted? They have made their scholars and monks as their Lords
beside Allah,31
and likewise the Messiah, the son of Mary, although they were
enjoined not to worship any other than the One Deity, besides Whom
there is none worthy of worship. He is absolutely pure and free from
what they associate with Him. These people desire to extinguish the
light of Allah with puffs from their mouths and Allah refuses (His
consent to their desire) but wills to perfect His light, even though
the disbelievers be much averse to it. He is Allah Who has sent His
Messenger with Guidance and the Right way so that He may make it
prevail over all other ways,32
even though the mushriks be much averse to it. O Believers, indeed
most of the scholars and monks of the people of the Book devour the
wealth of others by evil means, and debar them from the Way of
Allah.33
Give them the good news of a painful torment, who hoard up gold and
silver and expend not these in the Way of Allah. The Day shall surely
come when the same gold and silver shall be heated in the fire of
Hell, and therewith their foreheads, their bodies and their backs
shall be .branded, (saying), "Here is that treasure you had
hoarded up for yourselves: now taste the evil of your hoarded
treasure"

[36-37]
The fact is that the number of months ordained by Allah has been
twelve since the time He created the heavens and the earth,34
and out of these four are forbidden months: this is the right code of
reckoning: therefore do not wrong yourselves by violating these
months.35
And fight against the mushriks all together even as they fight
against you all together:36
and note it well that Allah is with the God fearing people. Nasi is
but one more instance of disbelief, whereby these disbelievers are
led astray. In one year they make a certain month lawful and in
another year they make the same a forbidden month, so as they might
make up for the number of the forbidden months and, at the same time,
make lawful that which is forbidden by Allah.37
Their evil deeds have been made seeming fair to them: for Allah does
not guide those who deny the Truth.

[38-41]
O38
you who believed! what was amiss with you that, when you were asked
to march forth on the Way of Allah, you clung to the earth? What! did
you prefer the life of this world to the life of the Hereafter? If it
is so, you should know that all these goods of this worldly life will
prove to be but little in the Hereafter.39
If you will not march forth, Allah will inflict on you a painful
chastisement,40
and will substitute other people for you,41
and you will in no way harm Him, for Allah has power over everything.
If you do not help your Prophet, (it does not matter): Allah did help
him before when the disbelievers forced him to go away from his home,
and he was but the second of two: when the two were in the cave; when
he was saying to his Companion, "Be not distressed: indeed Allah
is with us."42
Then Allah sent down peace of mind to him from Himself, and helped
him with the forces you did not see, and made the word of the
disbelievers abased. And Allah's Word is always supreme, for Allah is
All-Mighty, All-Wise. March forth whether you be light or heavy,43
and exert your utmost in Allah's Way with your possessions and your
lives: this is best for you, if you but know it.

[42]
O Prophet, had there been a prospect of immediate gain and an easy
journey, most certainly they would have been quite ready to follow
you; but the journey seemed too hard to them.44
Still they will swear by Allah and say, "Had we been able to go
forth, we would certainly have marched along with you"; they are
incurring destruction on themselves: for Allah knows well that they
are liars.

[43-45]
O Prophet, may Allah forgive you: why did you give them leave to stay
behind? (You yourself should not have given them leave), so that it
would have become clear to you which of them spoke the truth, and you
would have also known which of them were liars.45
For; those, who believe in Allah and the Last Day, will never ask you
to exempt them from doing Jihad with their possessions and their
persons: Allah knows well those who fear Him. Those only make such
requests, who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, and whose
hearts are filled with doubts, and they are wavering because of their
doubts.46

[46-49]
If they had really intended to march forth, they would surely have
made some preparation for it. But Allah was averse to their going
forth;47
and He caused them to hold back, and it was said to them, "Stay
behind with those who stay behind." Had they gone forth with
you, they would have added nothing but mischief to you and they would
have made strenuous efforts to sow discord among your ranks; yet
there are among you some who listen to them but Allah knows these
mischief-makers full well. Even before this, these people had striven
to stir up mischief and turn by turn they practiced all sorts of
devices to make you unsuccessful, until the Truth prevailed and
Allah's design was fulfilled, though they were averse to it.

There
is such a one among them, who says, "Give me leave to stay
behind and do not expose me to temptations."48
---Note it well that such people have already succumbed to
temptations49
and Hell has encircled these disbelievers.50

[50-51]
If a good thing comes to you, it grieves them; but if a disaster
befalls you, they turn away rejoicing and saying, "It is good
that we took our precautionary measures beforehand to set our affairs
aright." Say to them, "Nothing (good or bad) can befall us
except that which Allah has destined for us: Allah is our Guardian
and the Believers should put their trust in Him alone."51

[52]
Say to them, "What can be the thing you await for us other than
one of the two .best things?52
But what we await for you is whether Allah Himself inflicts His
chastisement on you or at our hands; well, now await, and we, too
await with you."

[53-55]
Say, "You may expend your possessions willingly or unwillingly:53
they shall not be accepted in any case, because you are a wicked
people." The reason why their expenditures shall not be accepted
is no other than that they have not believed in Allah and His
Messenger: and they come to offer their Salat but reluctantly, and
they expend in the Way of Allah with unwilling hearts. So let not
their great wealth and the large number of their children delude you;
for Allah wills to chastise them by means of these very things in
this worldly life54
and that they would die in a state of unbelief.55

[56-57]
They swear by Allah that they are Believers like you, whereas they
are not at all of you. In fact, they are people who are afraid of
you: if they could find a place of refuge or a cave or a hiding place
to lode therein, they would run in frantic haste to take refuge in
it.56

[58-60]
O Prophet, there are some among them who find fault with you
concerning the distribution of Sadaqat (Zakat collections); if
something is given to them thereof, they are well pleased and if they
are not given anything thereof they become angry.57
Would that they were contents58
with what Allah and His Messenger had given them and would say,
"Allah suffices us: He will provide for us in abundance out of
His own bounty,59
and His Messenger will also be kindly disposed towards us. Indeed we
look to Allah alone."60
As a matter of fact, Zakat collections are only for the needy61
and the indigent,62
and for those who are employed to collect them63
and for those whose hearts are to be won over64
and for the ransoming of slaves65
and for helping the debtors66
and for the way of Allah67
and for the hospitality of the wayfarers.68
This is an obligatory duty from Allah: and Allah is All-Knowing,
All-Wise.

[61]
There are some among them who injure the Prophet and say, "This
man readily believes whatever he hears.”69
Say, "It is good for you that he is so:70
He believes in Allah and puts his trust in the believers71
and is a blessing for those who are true believers among you. As
regards those who injure the Messenger of Allah, there is a painful
chastisement for them."

[62-63]
These people swear by Allah before you in order to please you, though
Allah and His Messenger have a greater right that they should try to
please them if they are true believers. Do they not know that whoso
opposes Allah and His Messenger shall have the Fire of Hell for him
wherein he shall abide for ever? This is a great ignominy.

[64-66]
The hypocrites dread lest a surah should be sent down to Muslims
revealing to them what is in their hearts.72
O Prophet, say to them, "Go on mocking, Allah will surely bring
to light the very thing you are dreading." If you question them
("What were you talking about?"), they will promptly
answer, "We were merely jesting and making merry.”73
Ask them, "What, then! were you mocking at Allah and His
Revelations and His Messenger? Do not invent excuses now; you have
indeed denied the truth after you had professed belief in it. Even if
We pardon some of you, We will surely chastise others of you, for
they are the guilty ones"74

[67-70]
The hypocrites, both men and women, are all of a kind: they enjoin
what is evil and forbid what is good and withhold their hands from
doing good.75
They forgot Allah: then Allah also forgot them; indeed the hypocrites
are the evil-doers. Allah has promised the hypocrites, both men and
women, as well as the disbelievers the fire of Hell, wherein they
shall abide for ever: that is the proper place for them; for the
curse of Allah is upon them and theirs is the lasting torment.-You
are behaving76
just like those who went before you: they had more power than you,
and possessed greater riches and had more children than you: they had
enjoyed their portion of the good things of the worldly life and you,
too, have enjoyed your portion of the good things like them: you are
also engaged in idle discussions like the discussions they held.
Consequently in the end everything they did, proved vain in this
world and shall be vain in the Next World: surely they are the people
who are the losers. Has not77
the story reached them of those who had gone before them-the people
of Noah, tribes of `Ad and Thamud, the people of Abraham and the
inhabitants of Midian and of the overturned cities?78
Their Messengers came to them with clear signs; then it was not Allah
Who would wrong them, but they wronged their own selves.79

[71-72]
As regards the true Believers, men and women, they are all comrades
to one another: they enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil;
they establish Salat, pay Zakat dues, and obey Allah and His
Messenger.80
It is they upon whom Allah will most surely send His blessings. Allah
is All-Mighty, All Wise. Allah has promised to the Believers, both
men and women, the Gardens underneath which canals :low and wherein
they will abide for ever: there will be neat and clean Swelling
places for them in these Gardens of perpetual bliss; and, above all,
they will enjoy Allah's pleasure: this is the great success.

[73-74]
O Prophet,81
strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be
adamant and stern with them.82
In the end, their abode shall be Hell, and it is the worst of all
abodes. They swear by Allah that they did not say the thing, when in
fact, they did utter the word of unbelief.83
Thus, they were guilty of unbelief after they had professed Islam:
however, they could not accomplish what they had intended to do.84
They had no reason to be spiteful except that Allah and His Messenger
had enriched them by His bounty.85
If even now they repent of their misbehavior, it will be good for
their own selves, but if they do not repent, Allah will chastise them
with a painful chastisement in this world and in the Hereafter, and
there will be none on the earth to protect and help them.

[75-79]
There are some among them, who made this covenant with Allah: If He
gives us of His bounty, we will disburse charity and lead a righteous
life." But when Allah enriched them by His bounty, they grew
niggardly and went back on their covenant, and paid no heed to it.86
As a consequence of the breach of the covenant they had made with
Allah and the lies they told, He set hypocrisy deep in their hearts
that will follow them till the Day when they shall meet Him. Do these
people not know that Allah knows fully well even their secrets and
their conspiracies and that Allah knows fully well all that is
hidden. (He fully knows those stingy rich people) who find fault with
the monetary sacrifices of those Believers who make willing and
voluntary contributions generously and scoff at those people who find
nothing to contribute (to the cause of Allah) except what little they
contribute sacrificing their own needs:87
Allah scoffs at those who scoff and there is a painful punishment in
store for them.

[80]
O Prophet, (it will all be the same) whether you beg forgiveness for
such people or not; for Allah will not forgive them even if you beg
forgiveness for them seventy times. This is because they have no
belief in Allah and His Messenger: and Allah does not show guidance
to the wrong-doers.

[81-83]
Those who were allowed to remain behind, were happy that they had not
gone with Allah's Messenger, and had stayed at home, for they did not
like to do Jihad in the Way of Allah with their possessions and their
persons. They said to the people, "Do not go forth in this
heat." Say to them, "The Fire of Hell is much hotter than
this"; would that they understood this! Let them now laugh
little and weep much for the recompense of what they have been
earning is such (that they should weep). Henceforth, if Allah brings
you among them and any of them asks your leave to go forth for Jihad.
say to them plainly, "Now you shall never be allowed to go forth
with me nor to fight an enemy in my company; as you were pleased to
stay behind the first time, now you stay at home with those who stay
behind".

[84-85]
And in future you should never say funeral prayer for anyone from
among them; who dies nor stand at his grave, for they have denied
Allah and His Messenger and died the while they were transgressors.88
And let not the abundance of their possessions and children delude
you; for Allah wills only to chastise them by means of their
possessions and children in this world and let their souls depart
while they are still disbelievers.

[86-89]
Whenever a Surah was sent down with the revelation, "Believe in
Allah and go forth for Jihad with His Messenger" , you might
have perceived that even the capable people from among them began to
beg you to excuse them from Jihad. saying, "Please leave us
behind with those who are to stay at home. Those people chose to stay
with those who had remained behind and a seal was set upon their
hearts: therefore they do not understand anything now.89
But the Messenger and those who shared his belief did Jihad with
their possessions and persons: now all the good things are for them
only and they alone are truly successful. Allah has prepared for them
Gardens underneath which canals flow wherein they will abide for
ever: this is the great success.

[90]
And many from among the Bedouins90
also came with their excuses that they, too, might be allowed to
remain behind: thus stayed behind those who had made a false compact
of Faith with Allah and His Messenger. In the near future those from
among the Bedouins who adopted the way of unbelief91
shall meet with a painful chastisement.

[91-93]
There is no harm if the weak, the sick and those that have no means
of providing for Jihad stay behind, provided they are sincerely
faithful to Allah and His Messenger.92
There is no cause of blame against such righteous people: and Allah
is Forgiving and Compassionate. Likewise there can be no ground for
criticizing those people who came to you in person and requested you
to provide them with mounts. For when you said to them, "I am
unable to provide you with mounts, they returned with heavy hearts,
their eyes overflowing with tears: they were filled with sorrow that
they had no means of going forth for Jihad at their own expense.93
However, the conduct of those who are well-to-do and still ask for
exemption from Jihad, is indeed very objectionable. As such people
chose to stay behind with women, Allah set a seal upon their hearts:
therefore now they do not know anything (about the consequences they
shall incur in Allah's court).

[94-96]
When you return to them, they will apologize to you, offering many
sorts of excuses: but say to them plainly, "Make no excuses: we
will not believe in anything you say for Allah has revealed to us the
whole truth about you. Now Allah and His Messenger will keep a watch
over your conduct: then you shall return to Him Who knows all that is
visible and hidden, and He will tell you all that you have been
doing. " On your return they will take solemn oaths by Allah to
reassure you, so that you may turn away from theta. So turn away from
them94
because they are a filth and their real abode is Hell which shall be
the recompense of what they have earned. They will take solemn oaths
before you to satisfy you, but even if you accept their excuses.
Allah will never accept the excuses of the evil-doers.

[97-99]
These Bedouins are most stubborn in unbelief and hypocrisy,and, in
all probability, will remain ignorant of the laws of the Way which
Allah has sent down to His Messenger:95
and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. There are such among the
Bedouins, who regard what they expend in the Way as a penalty96
and await some change of fortune to turn against you (so that they
should be able to overthrow the government you have imposed on them,)
whereas they themselves have been encircled by a vicious circle; and
Allah hears everything and knows everything. But among these Bedouins
there are some, who believe in Allah and the Last Day and regard what
they expend in the Way as a means of bringing themselves nearer to
Allah and of seeking the Messenger's prayers for Allah's blessing;
yes, this is indeed a means of bringing them nearer to Allah, and
Allah will certainly admit them to His blessing; indeed Allah is
Forgiving and Compassionate.

[100]
Allah was pleased with those Muhajirs and Ansar who were the first to
respond to the invitation to the Faith, and with those also who
followed them in their righteous conduct, and they, too, were pleased
with (the reward from) Allah; He has got ready for them gardens
underneath which canals flow and they will abide therein for ever;
this is the greatest success.

[101]
There are many hypocrites among the Bedouins who dwell around you;
likewise among the citizens of Al-Madinah there are hypocrites who
have become experts in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We do
know them.97
The time is coming when We will give them double chastisement:98
then they shall be returned to a far greater torment.

[102-105]
There are some others who have confessed their sins: they have a
mixed record of deeds, good and bad. It may be that Allah will turn
to them again with kindness for He is Forbearing and Compassionate. O
Prophet, accept propitiatory offerings from their possessions to
cleanse and purify them thereby, and help them onward (in the way of
virtue); and pray for blessings for them because your prayer will
bring comfort to them; and Allah hears everything and knows
everything. Do these people not know that it is Allah alone Who
accepts the repentance of His servants and approves of their
propitiatory offerings, and that Allah is indeed Forgiving,
Compassionate? And tell them, O Prophet: Do as you will: Allah and
His Messenger and the Believers will now keep a watch over your
conduct;99
then you shall return to Him Who knows all that is visible and hidden
and He will tell you all that you have been doing.100

[106]
There are some others who yet await Allah's decision: He may either
punish them or turn to them again with mercy: Allah knows everything
and is All-Wise.101

[107-110]
There are others who built a "mosque" in order to harm the
Righteous Mission and to practice unbelief (instead of Allah's
worship) and to cause discord among the Believers, and to make this
(place of worship') an ambush for the one who even before this had
been in conflict with Allah and His Messenger. They will take solemn
oaths and say, "Our intention was nothing but good." But
Allah is a witness that they are absolute liars. You should never
stand in that building: the Mosque which has been founded on piety
from the very first day, is the proper place for you to stand (for
prayer). For there are such people in it as would like to keep
themselves pure; and Allah likes those people who like to keep
themselves pure.102
Why, is he better who founded his building upon Allah's fear and for
His approval or he who founded his building on the brink of an
under-mined bank103
that tumbled with him down into the fire of Hell? Allah never shows
the Right Way to such workers of iniquity.104
This building which they have built will never cease to create doubts
in their hearts (from which there is no way to come out) unless it be
that their hearts are cut into pieces:105
and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

[111-112]
Indeed Allah has bought from the Believers their persons and their
possessions in return for the Gardens;106
they fight in the Way of Allah, kill and are killed. This promise (of
the Gardens) is the true pledge of Allah made in the Torah, the
Gospel, and the Qur'an,107
and who is more true in fulfilling his promise than Allah? So rejoice
in the bargain you have made with Him; and this is the greatest
success. Those who turn back to Allah over and over again;108
those who worship Him, those who sing hymns in His praise, those who
move about in the land for His sake,109
those who bow down and prostrate before Him, those who enjoin virtue
and forbid evil and strictly observe the limits prescribed by Allah110
(are the Believers who make such a bargain with Allah;) and O
Prophet, give good news to such Believers.

[113-114]
It does not behoove the Prophet and those who have believed to pray
for the forgiveness of the mushriks, even though they be near
kinsmen, when it has become clear to them that they deserve Hell.111
As regards the prayer of Abraham for his father, it was only to
fulfill a promise he had made to him,112
but when he realized that he was an enemy of Allah, he disowned him.
The fact is that Abraham was a tender-hearted, God fearing and
forbearing man.113

[115-116]
It is not the way of Allah to let people go astray after He has given
them guidance, until He makes plain to them all that they should
avoid:114
surely Allah has the knowledge of everything. And it is also the fact
that the kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs to Him: he
ordains life and death: and you have neither any helper nor protector
to rescue yourself from Him.

[117-118]
Allah forgave the Prophet and those muhajirin and Ansar who stood by
him in the hour of distress,115
though the hearts of some of them had well-nigh swerved aside:116
(Hut when they did not follow that crooked way, and stood by the
Prophet) Allah forgave them:117
surely Allah is Gentle and Compassionate to these people. And Allah
has forgiven the Three whose case had been put off.118
When the earth with all its vastness seemed to have become narrow for
them, and their own souls were a burden on them, and they realized
that there was no refuge for them except in the mercy of Allah
Himself, Allah turned to them with kindness so that they should turn
to Him. Surely, He is Forgiving and Compassionate.119

[119-121]
O Believers, fear Allah and be with those who are Truthful. It did
not behoove the people of Al-Madinah and the Bedouins, dwelling
around, to abandon Allah's Messenger and stay at home in order to
safeguard their own interests, in utter disregard of him. For, every
hardship like thirst, hunger and any other physical ordeal they
suffer in the Way of Allah, and every step they take on that Way
which enrages the unbelievers, and every act of wreaking vengeance
upon the enemies of the truth, is credited in their favor with a good
deed for each: surely Allah does not let go unrewarded any deed of
the righteous people. Likewise, whatever they spend (in the Way of
Allah), be it little or much, and whichever valley they traverse (for
Jihad), is credited to their account so that Allah may reward them
for the good deeds they did.

[122]
And it was not required that all the believers should leave their
homes, but why did not some people from every habitation leave their
homes in order to understand the Way of Islam and to warn their
people when they returned to them, so that they should refrain from
un-Islamic conduct?120

[123-127]
O Believers, fight with these disbelievers who are near you,121
and they should find you firm and stern:122
and know that Allah is with the God fearing.123
Whenever a new Surah is revealed, some of them ask the Muslims (in
jest), "Say, whose Faith from among you has increased?"
(The answer is that) most surely (every Surah) increases the Faith of
those who have sincerely believed and they rejoice but it has added
more filth to the existing filth124
of those whose hearts are suffering from the disease (of hypocrisy)
and they shall remain disbelievers up to their death. Do these people
not see that they are tried once or twice every year? 125
Yet, still they do not repent or learn a lesson from this. When a
Surah is sent down, they cast looks at one another, asking, "Is
anyone watching you?" Then they silently slip away:126
Allah has turned away their hearts for they are a people who do not
understand.127

[128-129]
Listen! A Messenger has come to you, who is from among you He grieves
at your (spiritual) loss: he is greedily anxious for your (true)
success: he is gentle and compassionate for the Believers:

Now
if they turn away from you, say to them, O Prophet, "Allah
suffices me: there is no god but He: in Him have I put my trust: He
is the Lord of the Great Throne."

1As
has already been stated in the Preface to this Surah, this discourse
(vv. 1-37) was revealed in A.H. 9, when Hadrat Abu Bakr had left for
Makkah as leader of the pilgrims to the Ka`abah. Therefore the
Companions said to the Holy Prophet, "Sir, send it to Abu Bakr
so that he may proclaim it on the occasion of Haj. " He
replied, "The importance and nature of the Declaration demands
that this should be proclaimed on my behalf by some one from my own
family." Accordingly, he entrusted this duty to Hadrat 'Ali and
instructed him to proclaim it openly before the pilgrims, and also
make these four announcements: (1) "No one who rejects Islam
shall enter Paradise. (2) No mushrik should perform Haj after this.
(3) It is forbidden to move round the Ka`abah in a naked state. (4)
The terms of the treaties which are still in force (i.e. with those
who have not broken their treaties with the Messenger of Allah up to
that time) would be faithfully observed till the expiry of the term
of the treaties".

In this
connection, it will be worthwhile to know that the first Haj of the
Islamic period after the conquest of Makkah was performed in A.H. 8,
according to the old customs. Then in A.H. 9 the second Haj was
performed by the Muslims in the Islamic way, and by the mushriks in
their own way. But the third Haj, known as "Hajja-tul-Wida a",
was performed in A.H. 10 in the purely Islamic way under the
guidance of the Holy Prophet himself. He did not perform Haj during
the two previous years because up to that time the mushriks had not
been forbidden from it, and so there were still some traces of shirk
associated with it.

2This
declaration of the abrogation of the treaties with the mushriks was
made in accordance with the law enjoined in VIII: 58 regarding the
treacherous people, for it is treachery from the Islamic point of
view to wage war against any people with whom a treaty of peace had
been made, without openly declaring that the treaty had been
terminated. That is why a proclamation of the abrogation of the
treaties was necessitated against those clans who were always
hatching plots against Islam in spice of the treaties of peace they
had made. They would break the treaties and turn hostile on the
first opportunity for treachery, and the same was true of all the
mushrik clans with the exception of Bani Kananah, Bani Damrah and
one or two other clans.

This
proclamation practically reduced the mushriks of Arabia to the
position of outlaws and no place of shelter was left for them, for
the major part of the country had come under the sway of Islam. As
this released the Muslims from the obligations of the treaties made
with them and forestalled them, they were driven into a tight comer.
For this smashed all their evil designs of creating trouble by
inciting civil war at the time of a threat from the Roman and the
Iranian Empires or after the death of the Holy Prophet. But Allah
and His Messenger turned the tables on them before the opportune
moment for which they were waiting. Now the only alternatives left
with them were either to accept Islam that had become the state
religion of Arabia, or to fight against it and be exterminated, or
to emigrate from the country.

The
wisdom of this grand plan became apparent when the mischief of
apostasy broke out in different parts of Arabia a year and a half
after this at the death of the Holy Prophet. This disturbance was so
sudden and violent that it shook to its foundations, the newly
created Islamic State, and would have done a far greater harm if the
organized power of shirk had not been broken beforehand by this
abrogation. It may be asserted that but for this timely action the
mischief of apostasy, that rose at the very beginning of the
Caliphate of Hadrat Abu Bakr, would have done ten-fold harm by
rebellion and civil war, and might have changed the whole history of
Islam.

3The
respite of four months from the tenth of Zil-Haj (the date of the
proclamation) to the tenth of Rabi'-uth-thani; was granted to give
time to the mushriks so that they should consider their position
carefully and decide whether to make preparation for war or to
emigrate from the country or to accept Islam.

4Hajj-i-akbar
refers to the 10th of Zil-Hajjah and is also known as Yaum-un-Nahr.
This has been explained by the Holy Prophet in an authentic
Tradition. On the 10th of Zil-Hajjah, during the last Haj of the
Holy Prophet, he asked the people, "What is this day?" The
people answered, "It is the day of Sacrifice. "

The Holy
Prophet said, "This is the day of Hajj-i-akbar" Here the
word Hajj-i-akbar (Great Pilgrimage) has been used in contrast to
Hajj-i-asghar which the Arabs used for 'Umrah' . Thus, the Haj which
is performed in the prescribed dates of Zil-Haj is called
Hajj-i-akbar.

5"......you
also should observe the treaties with such people" who do not
violate them, for your violation in such cases shall be against
piety. And Muslims should remain pious under all circumstances "for
Allah loves the pious people" only.

6Here
"the months made unlawful" are not those four months
during which war is forbidden for the sake of Haj and `Umrah but the
four months that were made unlawful for the Muslims to make any
attack on the mushriks, who were granted respite by v. 2.

7That
is, "Mere repentance from disbelief and shirk will not end the
matter. but they shall have to perform the prescribed prayer and pay
Zakat dues. Without these it will not be considered that they had
given up disbelief and embraced Islam. " Hadrat Abu Bakr based
his decision on this verse in the case of the apostates, after the
death of the Holy Prophet, who argued that they were not the
rejecters of Islam, because they offered Salat, even though they had
refused to pay the Zakat dues. This argument roused doubts in the
minds of the Companions in general that they had no right to fight
with such people as these. But Hadrat Abu Bakr removed their doubts,
saying, "Verse 5 enjoins us to let those people go their way
who fulfill all the three conditions- repentance from shirk, the
establishment of Salat and the payment of Zakat. We cannot forbear
them, because they do not fulfill one of these three conditions."

8That
is, "if during a fight, an enemy makes a request that he should
be given an opportunity to understand Islam, the Muslims should give
him a surety of protection and allow him to visit them. They should
then present Islam before him in order to make him understand it.
If, after this, he does not embrace Islam, they should convey him
safely to his place" . Such a person who comes to Dar-ul-Islam
under the above mentioned protection is called musta'min in the
Islamic Code.

10That
is, "Though outwardly they negotiated for peace treaties, they
cherished evil intentions in their hearts, and waited for an
opportune moment to break them. And this was borne by later
experiences."

11They
were evil-doers because they had no sense of moral responsibilities
nor did they hesitate to break moral limits.

12That
is, "When they had to make a choice between the Divine Guidance
and the transitory worldly ambitions, they chose the latter, because
they did not comprehend the comparative values of the two. Whereas
the Revelations of Allah were inviting them to goodness,
righteousness and observance of the Divine Law, which lead to
eternal bliss, they chose to follow the unbridled lusts of their
selves which gained some transitory worldly benefits for them, but
consequently led them to eternal perdition.

13Those
evil-doers "blocked His Way for others", for they not only
chose misguidance for themselves but also tried to prevent others
from following the right way. They put every kind of obstruction in
the way of the invitation to righteousness; nay, they tried their
worst to gag the mouths of those who were extending that invitation
and make their lives hard for them. In short, they did all they
could to prevent the establishment of the righteous system of life
that Allah required the people to establish.

14Here,
too, it has explicitly been stated that those who repent will not
become your brethren in faith without the observance of Salat and
Zakat.

"Yet
if ........they shall be your brethren in faith": This means
that "if they fulfill those conditions, then not only shall
their lives and properties become unlawful for you but also they
shall enjoy equal rights with you in the Islamic Community. There
shall be no distinction between them and the other Muslims in regard
to social, cultural, legal and political rights, and nothing will
stand in their way to the progress for which they are otherwise
qualified.

14a"........you
should fight with them.....":perhaps the fear of war may force
them to desist from breaking oaths and reviling Islam.

15In
the context,the words, oaths and compacts mean the compact of the
acceptance of Islam. Therefore, the question of making a new compact
with them does not arise. As regards the old pacts, they had already
broken all of them. It is on account of this that the declaration of
immunity (from obligations) by Allah and His Messenger has been
clearly made. It has also been stated that such people are not
worthy of any treaty and they can only be let off if they repent of
their disbelief and shirk and establish Salat and pay Zakat dues.
This verse states clearly how the renegades should be treated. As a
matter of fact, .this verse forestalled the mischief of apostasy
that broke out a year and a half after its revelation and Hadrat Abu
Bakr followed the guidance given in this verse to crush it. (For
further explanation, see my book entitled Murtad ki Saza Islami
Qanun men).

16In
this passage the addressees are the Muslims. They have been urged to
fight perseveringly in the Way of Allah, without paying the least
heed to their ties of blood and relationship and to their worldly
interests. In order to understand fully the spirit of this passage,
the reader should keep in view the state of affairs at the time,
when the abrogation of the treaties was declared. Though Islam was
reigning supreme in the greater part of Arabia and there was no
greater power to challenge its supremacy, still superficial
observers saw a number of dangers in the extreme step which was
being taken at that time.

First, it
was feared that the abrogating of the treaties with all the mushrik
clans at one and the same time, and debarring them from Haj and
changing the guardianship of the Ka`abah and abolishing all the
rituals of `ignorance', would so incite the mushriks and the
hypocrites and kindle such fire of enmity that they would be ready
to shed the last drop of their blood for safeguarding their
interests and prejudices.

Secondly,
it was feared that the mushriks would be greatly enraged by this
declaration which granted freedom of movement to the Muslims to
perform Haj, whereas it forbade the non-Muslims. Obviously this
would also affect adversely their economic condition, for Haj played
a very important part in the economic life of Arabia during that
period of her history.

Lastly,
it was feared that this would put to a hard trial those people who
had embraced Islam recently after the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah and
the Conquest of Makkah. For many of their kith and kin were still
mushriks, some of whom had their interests closely bound up with
those offices of `ignorance' which were abolished. Now it was
obvious that the total war against the mushriks demanded that these
new Muslims should not only kill their own near and dear ones but
should also themselves abolish those ancient offices and
distinctions which they had enjoyed for centuries.

Though it
is true that none of these dangers took any practical shape, there
were good reasons for these apprehensions, for none could foresee
the trends of events at the time of the abrogation of the treaties.
And the dangers were averted because these Commandments had prepared
them beforehand to meet them. More than that: this preparedness
produced other good results. The delegates from the remnants of the
mushriks, their chiefs and rulers began to visit Al-Madinah and take
the oath of allegiance to Islam and obedience to the Holy prophet,
who let them retain their old positions and offices. These things
proved that if the Muslims had not been in a state of readiness to
take immediate action for enforcing the terms of the "Declaration"
with the sword, the events which followed might have taken a
different direction. Therefore it was the need of the hour that the
Muslims should have been vehemently urged for Jihad, and their
apprehensions removed. That is why it was being enjoined that they
should not let anything hinder them from doing the Will of Allah.
And this is the theme of this discourse.

17This
was a subtle reference to the possibility of what actually was going
to happen afterwards. "And He may remove ......... repentance":
this was to remove the misunderstandings of the Muslims who
apprehended a bloody war as a result of the Declaration. They were
told that it was also possible that some of the enemies might repent
and embrace Islam. This was not made quite plain lest it should
slacken the war preparations of the Muslims on one side and weaken
the force of the warning to the mushriks on the other. The latter
thing might have hindered the mushriks from giving a serious thought
to the critical position they were in that finally led them to
embrace Islam.

18The
addressees in v. 16 were those Muslims who had recently embraced
Islam. It means to tell them plainly: "Now that you have
embraced Islam, you shall ave to give a genuine proof by a trial
that you have accepted it because you believe in its Truth and not
because it has become supreme in the country by the exertions of the
true Believers. The trial is that you shall have to sacrifice your
lives, wealths and your near and dear ones for the sake of Allah and
His Way. Then and only then, you will be regarded as true
Believers."

19This
lays down the general principle for the guardianship of the places
of worship that ave been built exclusively for the worship of Allah.
Obviously, those people who associate others with Allah in His
essence, His rights and His powers cannot be the proper persons to
be the guardians, the servants, the managers etc. of such sacred
places. And when they themselves reject the invitations to Tauhid,
and openly declare that they are not going to dedicate their worship
and obedience exclusively o Allah, they automatically forfeit any
right they ad for the guardianship of such places of worship that
had been built for the worship of Allah alone. Though the principle
is of a general nature, it has been mentioned here with the
particular object of removing the mushriks from the guardianship of
the Ka`abah and Masjid-i-Haram and establishing permanently the
guardianship of the worshipers of One God over them.

20".........all
their works have gone to waste.....", including the little real
service they did to the `House of Allah' because they mixed with it
shirk and other practices of ignorance. Their little good was
destroyed by their far greater evils.

21This
question has been posed to bring home the fact that the guardianship
of a shrine or attendance at it or other religious acts that are
done for show, and are exploited by worldly people to establish and
maintain the show of their piety, have no value whatsoever in the
sight of Allah. The real worth of a person with Allah is that he
should be sincere in his beliefs and make sacrifices in the Way of
Allah, no matter whether he enjoys or does not enjoy such
distinctions or happens to descend or not from a family of `saints'.
On the contrary, those people who lack these excellences have no
value with Allah, no matter whether they be the descendants of
saints or inherit the guardianship of shrines from a long line of
saints, or perform some `religious' acts for show on special
occasions. And it is not lawful in any way that the guardianship,
etc. of sacred places and institutions should be left in the hands
of these worthless people just because they happen to inhere such
rights from their forefathers.

22That
is: "The judgment will deprive them of the blessings of the
true Faith, and of the honor of bearing its standard and leading the
world towards its guidance. and bestow these on others".

23This
has been mentioned to allay the fears of those who were afraid of
the consequences of the Declaration of the abrogation of the
treaties, as if to say, "Why are you afraid of war? That Allah,
Who helped you in far worse and dangerous situations on so many
occasions before this, is there even now to help you. Had this
Mission depended on your might, it could not have come out
victorious in the hard trials at Makkah nor in the Battle of Badr
when the odds were heavily against you. This is because Allah's
Power has been helping you, and past experiences have shown you how
effective that Power is. Rest assured that the same Power will help
you to succeed in your Mission."

The
Battle of Hunain had taken place in the valley of Hunain between
Ta'if and Makkah in the month of Shawwal A.H. 8, a year or so before
the Revelation of this discourse. This was the first battle in which
the Muslim army consisted of 12,000 fighters and this far
outnumbered the army of the disbelievers. But in spite of this the
archers of the Hawazin clan wrought havoc among the Muslim army and
put them to rout. The Holy Prophet and a few of his bravest
Companions, however, firmly stood their ground and rallied the
routed army, and ultimately won the victory. It was because of their
perseverance that the army reassembled and the Muslims ultimately
won the victory; otherwise they would have lost much more at Hunain
than they had gained by the conquest of Makkah.

24".....Allah
enables .....to repent" refers to the large number of the
disbelievers who embraced Islam after the victory at Hunain as a
result of the kind and generous treatment they received from the
Holy Prophet, in spite of their former antagonism. This was
mentioned to allay the anxiety of those new Muslims who feared that,
as a result of the Declaration, all of their mushrik relatives would
be put to death. (E.N. 16). They have been told to expect, in the
light of the previous experiences, that the mushriks would be
obliged to accept Islam, when they realize that neither any hope of
the revival of the order of 'ignorance' was Ieft nor of any props to
support it.

25This
prohibition was meant to root out all the vestiges of shirk and '
ignorance' . For the mushriks were prohibited not only from the
performance of Haj and attendance at the Masjid-i-Haram but also
from entering into its sacred precincts .

They are
"unclean" in their creeds, in their morals, in their
deeds, and in their ways of `ignorance', and not in their physical
bodies by themselves. That is the reason why they have been
prohibited from entering the sacred precincts of the Holy Place.

This
prohibition has been interpreted in different ways. Imam Abu Hanifah
is of the view that it prohibits them only from the performance of
Haj and Umrah, and from the observance of the rites of `ignorance'
in the Holy Precincts. But Imam Shafi`i is of the opinion that they
have been forbidden even to enter the Masjid-i-Haram for any purpose
whatsoever. Imam Malik is of the opinion that they are forbidden not
only to enter Masjid-i-Haram but any mosque at all. It is, however,
obvious that the last opinion is not correct, as the Holy Prophet
himself permitted mushriks to enter the Prophet's Mosque at
Al-Madinah.

26Though
the people of the Book professed to believe in Allah and the
Hereafter, in fact they believed in neither. For only that person
really believes in Allah who acknowledges Him as the only One God
and the only One Lord, and does not associate with Him any other,
whatsoever, in His Being, in His characteristics, in His rights and
in His powers and authority. But according to this definition of
shirk both the Christians and the Jews were guilty of shirk as has
been made plain in the verses that follow: therefore their
profession of belief in Allah was meaningless. Likewise they did not
really believe in the Hereafter, in spite of the fact that they
believed in Resurrection. For it is not enough: one must also
believe that on that Day absolute justice will be done on the basis
of one's belief and actions. One should also believe that no ransom
and no expiation and no 'spiritual' relationships with any 'saint'
shall be of any avail on that Day. It is absolutely meaningless to
believe in the Hereafter without this. And the Jews and the
Christians had polluted their faiths because they believed that such
things would protect them against justice on that Day.

27The
second reason why Jihad should be waged against them is drat they
did not adopt the Law sent down by Allah through His Messenger.

28This
is the aim of Jihad with the Jews and the Christians and it is not
to force them to become Muslims and adopt the `Islamic Way of Life.'
They should be forced to pay Jizyah in order to put an end to their
independence and supremacy so that they should not remain rulers and
sovereigns in the land. These powers should be wrested from them by
the followers of the true Faith, who should assume the sovereignty
and lead others towards the Right Way, while they should become
their subjects and pay jizyah. jizyah is paid by those non-Muslims
who live as Zimmis (proteges) in an Islamic State, in exchange for
the security and protection granted to them by it. This is also
symbolical of the fact that they themselves agree to live in it as
its subjects. This is the significance of "..... they Pay
jizyah with their own hands," that is, "with full consent
so that they willingly become the subjects of the Believers, who
perform the duty of the vicegerents of Allah on the earth. "

At first
this Command applied only to the Jews and the Christians. Then the
Holy Prophet himself extended it to the Zoroastrians also. After his
death, his Companions unanimously applied this rule to all the
non-Muslim nations outside Arabia.

This is
jizyah " of which the Muslims have been feeling apologetic
during the last two centuries of their degeneration and there are
still some people who continue to apologize for it. But the Way of
Allah is straight and clear and does not stand in need of any
apology to the rebels against Allah. Instead of offering apologies
on behalf of Islam for the measure that guarantees security of life,
property and faith to those who choose to live under its protection,
the Muslims should feel proud of such a humane law as that of
jizyah. For it is obvious that the maximum freedom that can be
allowed to those who do not adopt the Way of Allah but choose to
tread the ways of error is that they should be tolerated to lead the
life they like. That is why the Islamic State offers them
protection, if they agree to live as its Zimmis by paying jizyah,
but it cannot allow that they should remain supreme rulers in any
place and establish wrong ways and impose them on others. As this
state of things inevitably produces chaos and disorder, it is the
duty of the true Muslims to exert their utmost to bring to an end
their wicked rule and bring them under a righteous order.

As
regards the question, "What do the non-Muslims get in return
for Jizyah " it may suffice to say that it is the price of the
freedom which the Islamic State allows them in following their
erroneous ways, while living in the jurisdiction of Islam and
enjoying its protection. The money thus collected is spent in
maintaining the righteous administration that gives them the freedom
and protects their rights. This also serves as a yearly reminder to
them that they have been deprived of the honor of paying Zakat in
the Way of Allah, and forced to pay jizyah instead as a price of
following the ways of error.

29Uzair
(Ezra) lived during the period around 450 B.C. The Jews regarded him
with great reverence as the revivalist of their Scriptures which had
beat lost during their captivity in Babylon after the death of
Prophet Solomon. So much so that they had lost all the knowledge of
their Law, their traditions and of Hebrew, their national language.
Then it was Ezra who re-wrote the Old Testament and revived the Law.
That is why they used very exaggerated language in his reverence
which misled some of the Jewish sects to make him 'the son of God'.
The Qur'an, however, does not assert that all the Jews were
unanimous in declaring Ezra as 'the son of God'. What it intends to
say is that the perversion in the articles of faith of the Jews
concerning Allah had degenerated to such an extent that there were
some amongst them who considered Ezra as the son of God.

30"Those
who were involved in Kufr before them" were the Egyptians, the
Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, etc. The Jews and the Christians
were so influenced by their philosophies, their superstitions and
fancies that they also invented erroneous creeds like theirs. (For
details sec E.N. 101 of Al-Maidah).

31"They
have taken their scholars and monks as their Lords the Holy Prophet
himself explained its true significance. According to a Tradition,
when Hadrat `Adi bin Hatim, who was formerly a Christian, came to
the Holy Prophet with the intention of understanding Islam, he asked
several questions in order to remove his doubts. One of these was:
"This verse accuses us of taking our scholars and monks as our
lords. What is its real meaning, sir? For we do not take them as our
fords."

As a
reply to this, the Holy Prophet put him a counter-question: "Is
it not a fact that you accept as unlawful what they declare to be
unlawful, and lawful what they declare to be lawful?" 'Adi
confessed, "Yes, sir, it is so." The Holy Prophet replied,
"This amounts to making them your lords." Incidentally,
this Tradition shows that those who themselves set limits to the
lawful and the unlawful without the authority of Allah's Book,
assume for themselves the rank of Godhead, and those who acknowledge
their right of making laws take them as their Lords.

It should
be noted that they have been charged with (a) attributing sons to
Allah, and (b) giving the right of making laws to others than Allah.
These are to prove that their claim, that they believed in Allah, is
false, even though they should believe in his existence. But such a
wrong conception of Allah makes their belief in Allah meaningless.

32The
Arabic word ad-din has been translated into 'ways'. For the word
din, as has already been explained in E.N. 204, :Al-Baqarah, is used
for the 'way of life' or the 'system of life', which is followed in
obedience to the supreme authority.

Now let
us try to understand the significance of this verse. The object of
the Mission of the Messenger is to make the Guidance and the Right
Way he has brought from Allah dominant over all the other ways and
systems of life. In other words, the Messenger is not sent to allow
Allah's Way to remain subordinate to other ways in order to enjoy
concessions from them. He is sent by the Sovereign of the earth and
the heavens to make His Way dominant over all other ways. And if a
wrong way is at all allowed to remain on the earth, it should be
tolerated only under its own protection by the payment of Jizyah
under the limits conferred by the Divine System as in the cast of
the system of life of the Zimmis who pay Jizyah.

33These
religious leaders are guilty of two sins. First, they devour the
wealth of the common people by selling false decrees, and by taking
bribes, gifts and presents on different pretexts. They invent
religious regulations and rituals as tempt people to buy their
salvations and fortunes in life from them and make deaths and
marriages dependent on the payment of due `price' to these
"monopolists" of Paradise. To add to this another sin,
they debar the people from the Way of Allah by involving them into
different sorts of deviations and by obstructing the way of every
Righteous Mission with the obstacles of `learned' doubts and `pious'
suspicions.

34This
means that ever since Allah created the sun, the moon and the earth,
the new moon takes place only once in a month; thus the year has
always been of twelve months.

This has
been mentioned to refute the practice of nasi (v. 37) whereby the
pagan Arabs increased the number of the months of a year to 13 or 14
to enable them to interpose in the calendar the forbidden month
which had been made lawful by them. (For fuller explanation see E.N.
37).

35"....do
not wrong yourselves ....": "Do not let go waste the good
things for which fighting has been made unlawful during these months
by creating disorder in them that will ultimately be harmful to you
also" . The four forbidden months are . . Zil-Q`adah,
Zil-Hajjah and Muharram for Haj and Rajab for ' Umrah.

36That
is, ''If the mushriks do not desist from fighting during these
months, you should also fight them and present a united front
against them, just as they put up a united front against you".
This verse has been explained by v. 194 of Al-Baqarah.

37The
pagan Arabs practiced nasi in two ways. Whenever it suited them,
they would declare a prohibited month to be an ordinary month in
which fighting, robbery and murder in retaliation were lawful for
them. Then they would declare an ordinary month to be a prohibited
month instead of this month in order to make up for the deficiency
caused in the number of the prohibited months.

The other
way of nasi was the addition of a month in order to harmonize the
lunar with the solar year so that the Haj should always fall in the
same season and they should be saved from the bother and
inconvenience that are experienced by its observance according to
the lunar year. In this way Haj was observed for 36 years on dates
other than the actual dates. Then in the thirty seventh year it was
again observed on the 9th and 10th of Zil-Hajjah, as they should
have actually fallen according to the lunar calendar. It so happened
that on the occasion when the Holy Prophet performed
Hajja-tul-Wida'a (his Last Haj). these dates by rotation coincided
with the actual dates of Haj according to the lunar calendar. So he
declared during the course of his historic address at `Arafat: "This
year the dates of Haj have again occurred exactly at their natural
and proper time after a long period of circulation. "
Accordingly, since that `Last Haj' of A.H. 9, it is being observed
up to this day according to the correct dates of the lunar year.

By making
nasi unlawful and forbidding it, the Law declared that the two
objects for which it was practiced were also sinful. First, they not
only made lawful what Allah had made unlawful but also tried to
practice deception on Allah by the seeming observance of the Law. As
regards the second object of making the season of Haj fixed
permanently according to the solar calendar, this too, was in fact
the worst kind of rebellion against the Divine Law, although it
appeared to be a harmless thing done for public good. But it
defeated the very object of the Divine Law which prescribed the
lunar calendar instead of the solar calendar for the observance of
obligatory duties. Allah did this to ensure many good things for the
Muslims, one of which is that His servants should be so trained as
to obey His Commandments at all times of the year and under all
circumstances. For instance, the month of Ramadan circulates among
all the seasons of the year and the Muslims get used to obeying His
Commandments whether it be summer or winter, dry or rainy season.
This gives them that excellent moral training which is the real
object of all the obligatory duties imposed by the Divine Law.
Likewise, the dates of Haj according to the lunar calendar, fall
during different seasons: therefore the servants of Allah have to
travel during all the seasons, favorable and unfavorable. Thus they
come out successful in the Divine test under all the circumstances
and learn to be steadfast in their obedience.

It is
obvious that such a training will stand them in good stead in many
other fields in which one has to fight the battle of the Truth.

Now it
would have become quite clear why nasi was made unlawful and
forbidden. It was designed to fix the season of Haj in order to suit
their own conveniences though it defeated the Divine purpose of Haj
and of the forbidden months. It meant that they had rebelled against
Allah and become independent of Him; this is kufr. Besides this,
Islam is a universal religion and for all human beings. It is
obvious that the periods of fasting and performing Haj cannot
satisfy all if they be fixed in accordance with the months of the
solar year. For if they are performed in fixed months according to
the solar year, the one and the same month will not equally suit all
for the simple reason that it will fall during the same seasons in
different places-summer or winter or very hot or very cold or rainy
or dry or harvesting or sowing-year after year.

In this
connection it may also be kept in view that the proclamation about
the prohibition of "nasi " was made on the occasion of Haj
in A. H . 9 and next year,the Haj was performed on right dates which
were in accordance with the lunar year. Since that time Haj is being
performed according to exact dates.

38From
here begins the discourse (vv. 38-72) which was sent down at the
time when the Holy Prophet was engaged in making preparations for
the Campaign to Tabuk.

39"....
you should know that the goods ... Hereafter" may imply two
meanings. First: "When you will find that the life in the
Hereafter is eternal and see that the good things and the provisions
of enjoyment are countless, you will realize that the potential and
the actual enjoyments of the temporary life of this world were
nothing as compared with the blessings of that great Kingdom. At
that time you will regret why you deprived yourselves of this
everlasting happiness and bliss for the sake of the little-very
little-sort-lived enjoyments of the mortal life of this world. "
Second: "The goods of this worldly life are of no value in the
Hereafter, howsoever abundant they might be. You shall have to give
up each and everything as soon as you breathe your last, for nothing
of this world can go with you to the Next World. Of course, you will
get credit for what you sacrificed for the pleasure and love of
Allah, and love of Islam."

40A
general rule of the Islamic conduct has been derived from "If
you .... chastisement. " When the Muslims are commanded to go
to Jihad by a public proclamation from their leader, it becomes an
obligatory duty for those who are called upon to do Jihad, whether
they belong to any particular group or region. So much so that the
Faith of those who do not go for Jihad without a genuine excuse
becomes doubtful. But even in cases where the Muslims are called
upon to go forth for Jihad and there is no command for the
compulsory enrollment of every able-bodied Muslim of a particular
group or region, it is a religious duty (though not obligatory), and
it shall be considered to have been performed even if only some
Muslims go forth for it.

41That
is, "Allah's work does not depend on you and will be
accomplished only if you do it. It is Allah's grace and bounty that
He is affording you the golden opportunity of serving the cause of
His Way. Therefore if you miss this opportunity because of any
foolish assumption, Allah will raise another people and bestow on
them the opportunity and capability of doing His work, and you will
be losers".

42This
refers to the occasion when the disbelievers had decided to
assassinate the Holy Prophet, and the very night fixed for his
assassination he had left Makkah for Al-Madinah. By that time most
of the Muslims had migrated to Al-Madinah in twos and threes and
only a few helpless ones had remained behind in Makkah. As he was
sure that he would be pursued, he took only Hadrat Abu Bakr with him
and went southward instead of following the northern route to
Al-Madinah and remained hidden in the Thaur Cave for three days. In
the meantime the blood thirsty enemies had begun to make a thorough
search for him all around Makkah and some of them reached the very
mouth of the Cave where he was hidden. On this critical occasion
Hadrat Abu Bakr naturally felt alarmed lest they should peep into
the Cave, and see them. But the Holy Prophet remained as calm as
before and reassured his Companion, saying, "Be not distressed:
indeed Allah is with us."

43The
words ".... whether you are light or heavy ..." have a
very comprehensive meaning: "When it is enjoined to march forth
for Jihad, you must go forth anyhow, whether you like it or not:
whether you are in a state of prosperity or indigence: whether you
are well-equipped or ill-equipped: whether the circumstances are
favorable or adverse: whether you are young and healthy or old and
weak. "

44They
felt the journey to Tabuk to be hard because they had to fight with
the army of the great and powerful Roman Empire: because they had to
journey in the scorching heat of the summer season of the desert:
because there was a famine in the country and the new harvest on
which they had pinned their hopes, was ready for reaping.

45Allah
did not approve of the exemption which the Holy Prophet had granted
to the hypocrites who had put forward lame excuses. Though he knew
it well that they were inventing false excuses, he gave them leave
to stay behind because of his inherent kindness. But Allah warned
him that such a leniency was not well placed as he gave them an
opportunity of hiding their hypocrisy. Had they remained behind
without getting an exemption, the false profession of their faith
would have been exposed.

46This
verse shows clearly that the conflict between Islam and kufr is the
criterion to distinguish between a true Believer and a hypocrite.
The one who supports Islam in this conflict with the whole of his
heart and expends all of his energies and resources in order to make
it victorious and does not hesitate in the least to make any
sacrifices for this purpose, is a true Believer. On the contrary,
the one who hesitates to support Islam in this conflict and refrains
from making sacrifices in its Way, when he confronts the threat of
the victory of kufr, is a hypocrite, for such an attitude is itself
a proof of the fact that there is no faith in his heart.

47Allah
held them back for He did not like that they should join Jihad
unwillingly without any sincere intention for it. As they had no
mind to make sacrifices to exalt the cause of Islam, and, therefore,
would have taken part in it. half-heartedly to escape the taunts of
the Muslims or to create mischief, this would have resulted in a
greater evil, as has been stated explicitly in the next verse (48).

48Some
of the hypocrites, who were requesting the Holy Prophet to give them
leave to stay behind on one pretext or the other, were so impudent
that they were inventing excuses of a religious or moral nature for
refraining from jihad in the Way of Allah. One of these was
Jad-bin-Qais, who, according to traditions came to the Holy Prophet
and said. "I am a lover of beauty and my people know that I am
very weak in regard to women: therefore I am afraid to go forth lest
the beauty of the Roman women should beguile me into sin. Therefore
".... do not expose me to temptations."

49Though
they wanted exemption, they had already fallen a prey to the
temptations of telling lies, of double dealings and hypocrisy. They
deluded themselves that they would be considered pious people, if
they would put forward the fear of temptations to avoid Jihad, when,
in fact; they had already fallen into the greatest possible
temptation of refraining from Jihad in the conflict between Islam
and kufr.

50That
is, "Such a show of piety has not taken them away from Hell;
nay, on the other hand, the same thing has caused them to be
entangled in the clutches of Hell."

51In
this passage a demarcation has been made between the attitudes of a
man of the world and of a man of God. Whatever the man of the world
does, he does it to please his own self. He exults if he attains
some worldly ends but feels utterly dejected if he fails to attain
them. Besides, he depends entirely on his material resources for his
success and feels encouraged if these are favorable, but loses heart
if these are unfavorable.

In
contrast to the man of the world, whatever the man of God does, he
does it to please Him and trusts in Him and not in his own powers
nor in material resources. Therefore he is neither exultant over his
success in the cause of Allah nor loses heart by failure, for he
believes that it is the Will of God that is working in both the
cases. Therefore he is neither disheartened by disasters nor is
filled with conceit by successes. This is because he believes that
both prosperity and adversity are from Allah and are nothing but a
trial from Him. Therefore his only worry is to do his best to come
out successful in His test. Besides, as there are no worldly ends
before him, he does not measure his success or failure by the
achievement or failure of his ends. On the other hand, the only
object before him is to sacrifice his life and wealth in the Way of
Allah, and he measures the success or failure of his efforts by the
standard he achieves in the performance of this duty. Therefore if
he is satisfied that he has done his best to perform this duty, he
believes that he has come out successful by the grace of God, though
he might not have been able to accomplish anything from the worldly
point of view; for he believes that his Allah in Whose cause he has
expended his life and wealth will not let go waste the reward of his
efforts. As he does not depend on the material resources only, he is
neither grieved if they are unfavorable, nor feels exultant when
these are favorable. His entire trust is in God Who is the
controller of all the resources; therefore he goes on doing his duty
even under the most unfavorable circumstances with the same courage
and perseverance that is shown by the worldly people unfavorable
circumstances alone. That is why Allah asked the Holy Prophet to say
to the hypocrites, "There is a basic difference between you and
us in regard to the conduct of affairs. We believe that both the
good and the bad are from Allah: therefore the apparent result does
not make us happy or sad. Moreover, we depend on Allah in our
affairs and you depend on material resources: so we are content and
happy in all circumstances."

52This
is the answer to those who, as usual, were not taking any part in
the conflict between Islam and kufr, but were very "wisely"
watching it from a distance to see whether the Holy Prophet and his
Companions would return victorious from Tabuk or would be totally
destroyed by the powerful Roman army. They were told that either of
the two results they were awaiting, would be good for the Muslims.
For it was obvious that it would be a good thing if they won
victory. But even if they were killed in the Way of Allah, it would
be a success froth their point of view, though not in the sight of
the world, as the Muslims' standard of measurement is different from
that of the hypocrites and the like. A Believer considers it his
success if he sacrifices his life and wealth in the Way of Allah,
irrespective of whether he succeeds in conquering some country or in
establishing a government or not. According to him the criterion of
success or failure is whether he has extended or not all the powers
of his body and soul, his head and his heart to elevate the Word of
Allah, though from the worldly point of view the result of his
efforts might be nothing at all."

53V.
53 is a sharp retort to those hypocrites who desired exemption froth
Jihad but, at the same time, wanted to make some monetary
contributions in order to avoid the exposure of their hypocrisy,
They said, "Please grant us leave from military service because
we are unable to do this, but we are ready to make monetary
contributions towards it." To this Allah retorted, saying,
"Whatever you may contribute, it shall not be accepted".

54"Allah
wills to chastise them by means of these things in this world",
because of their great love for their children and wealth as these
misled them to adopt the hypocritical attitude which, in turn,
degraded them in the Muslim society. Consequently, in the Islamic
System they would lose the respect, tire reputation and the prestige
they enjoyed in the pre-lslamic society. On the contrary, even the
Muslim slaves and the sons of slaves, the farmers and the shepherds,
who proved the sincerity of their Faith would win honor in the new
system, and the big hereditary chiefs, who refrained from this
because of their love of the world, would lose their fame, honor and
prestige.

In order
to illustrate the above we cite an incident that happened during the
Caliphate of Hadrat `Umar. Once some big chiefs of the Quraish
including Suhail-bin-`Amr and Harith-bin-Hisham, went to see Caliph
Umar and took their seats near him. Soon after this some humble
people from among the Muhajirin and the Ansar came there. The Caliph
asked those chiefs to make room for them, and seated these humble
people near his own seat. This went on for some time till these
chiefs reached the remotest corner in the assembly. When they came
out, Harith-bin-Hisham said to his companions, "You have
noticed what a humiliating treatment has been meted out to us
today!" Suhail-bin-`Amr replied, "It is no fault of `Umar
but it is our own fault. When we were invited to Islam, we turned
away from it, but these humble people accepted it and made
sacrifices for it. " Then both of them returned to the meeting
and said "Today we have noticed your treatment and we feel that
it is all due to our own shortcomings, but tell us if there is a way
for us to make atonements for our past failures" . The Caliph
did not make any reply but merely pointed towards the Roman
territory, which meant that the only way of regaining their prestige
was to expend their lives and wealths in doing Jihad there.

55"They
would die in a state of unbelief" because of their hypocrisy,
which would not let them attain sincere Faith till they die. Thus
after ruining their moral and spiritual lives in this world, they
would leave it in the state of unbelief, which will ruin their lives
in the Hereafter in a far worse way.

56This
was the condition of the hypocrites of Al-Madinah, the majority of
whore were rich and old. We find from a list of the hypocrites,
cited by Ibn Kathir in Al-Badayah-wan-Nihayah, that only one of them
was young and none was poor. These people had large properties and
flourishing businesses in Al Madinah. They were worldly-wise and
their wide experience had taught them expediency, but their sense of
self-interest had put them into a dilemma. When Islam reached
Al-Madinah and a large majority of the population embraced it
sincerely and enthusiastically, they found themselves in a very
perplexing situation. They could not reject it outright for the
majority of their own people, nay, their own sons and daughters,
were filled with enthusiasm for Islam. If they had remained
unbelievers, they would have lost their high position, their
prestige and reputation and run the risk of a rebellion by the
Muslims of their own household. On the other hand, if they sincerely
embraced Islam, they would incur the danger of war, not only with
the whole of Arabia but also with the adjoining nations and empires.
Above all, self-interest had so blinded them that, in resolving the
dilemma, they would not consider the problem from the point of view
of truth and righteousness which by themselves are worthy of every
sacrifice. Therefore they decided that the best thing for them was
to profess Islam outwardly in order to make their positions,
properties and businesses secure, but to adopt a hypocritical
attitude towards it so that they might be able to avoid the losses
and perils inherent in the sincere acceptance of Islam.

This
verse (57) depicts the dilemma of the hypocrites, as if to say, "In
reality these people are not Muslims, though they swear that they
are Muslims like you; they profess Islam simply because they are
afraid of losses they might incur, if they reject it outright. Then
they dare not stay at AI-Madinah as non-Muslims for they would lose
the high positions they enjoyed and might even have to cut off their
connection with their wives and children; and if they decided to
emigrate from AI-Madinah, they would have to abandon their
properties and business. But they are not prepared for these
sacrifices for they have no sincere attachment even to kufr.
Therefore they are compelled against their beliefs by the force of
circumstances to remain in AI-Madinah: they offer their Salat but
regard this as forced labor: they pay the Zakat dues but as a
penalty, for they are in their heart of hearts averse to these
things. To add to their `calamities' they are asked every now and
then to make sacrifices of their lives and their wealth and to go
forth for Jihad and to fight with one enemy or the other. They are
so much afraid of these `calamities' that, in order to escape from
them, they would run in frantic haste to take refuge in any hole, if
they hoped that it would provide immunity against these 'calamities'
.

57The
people referred to were the hypocrites, who felt depressed on every
occasion of the distribution of the Zakat collections, for they
thought that they were not being given their due share. Then they
would taunt the Holy Prophet with making unfair distributions. This
happened when the payment of Zakat was made an obligatory duty on
all those Muslims whose possessions exceeded the prescribed limits.
They were required to contribute from their agricultural products,
animals, commercial commodities, minerals dug out of mines and the
gold and silver they possessed, at different rates, varying from 2½%
to 20%,and all these were collected and spent in a systematic way
from a central place.

As a
result of this so much wealth flowed into the hands of a single
person, the Holy Prophet, that it had no parallel in the whole
territory of Arabia. Naturally the materialists looked at these
things with greedy eyes and wanted to grab as much as possible out
of this wealth. But their greed could not be satisfied, for the Holy
Prophet, who had made the use of Zakat Fund unlawful for his own
person and for his own relatives, could not be expected to give
anything out of it to anyone who did not deserve it. It is thus
obvious that they found fault with the Holy Prophet not because he
was unfair in the distribution of the Zakat collections but because
he did not allow the hypocrites to grab anything from these without
any right to them. They, however, very cunningly hid their real
grievance, and accused the Holy Prophet of showing partiality and
injustice in the distribution of the Zakat collection

58That
is, it would have been much better for them if they had been content
with their share of the spoils which the Holy Prophet gave them and
what they earned by the grace of Allah and with the prosperity Allah
had bestowed on them.

59It
would have been good for. them to adopt this attitude: "Allah
suffices us....bounty," for they ought to have known that they
would receive their due shares besides the Zakat collections out of
the wealth that would come to the State treasury, just as they were
receiving their shares previously.

60"We
look to Allah alone" means "We give ow attention to Allah
and His grace and not to the world and its worthless riches and we
desire to do His Will: we direct ow expectations and hopes to Him
and we are content with what He bestows on us."

61According
to the Arabic usage (fuqara: the needy) are all those people who
depend on others for the necessities of life. The Arabic word
fuqara'. is a general word for all those who are needy because of
some physical defects, or old age, or temporarily, and can become
self-supporting if they are helped. e.g. orphans, widows, the
unemployed, etc. , etc.

62According
to the Arabic usage( masakin) are those indigent people who are in
greater distress than the needy people usually are. The Holy Prophet
especially enjoined the Muslims to help such people as are unable to
find the necessary means to satisfy their wants and are in very
straitened circumstances, but are so self-respecting that they would
not beg for anything nor would others judge from their outward
appearance that they were deserving people. According to a Tradition
"Miskin is one who cannot make both ends meet, though his
appearance does not show that he needs help nor does he beg for
help." In short, he is a self-respecting man who has become
needy.

63"....who
are employed to collect them...." are those who collect Zakat
dues, supervise the collections and keep accounts, and help in their
distribution, irrespective of the fact whether or not they are needy
or indigent; their remunerations shall be paid out of the Zakat
Funds. In this connection it should be noted well that the Holy
Prophet had declared the Zakat Funds to be unlawful for himself and
for the members of his own family (Bani Hashim). Accordingly, he
never received any remuneration for collecting or distributing Zakat
Funds. As regards the other members of Bani Hashim, they were
allowed to do this service without receiving any remuneration, but
otherwise it is unlawful for them. On the contrary, the payment of
the Zakat dues was obligatory on Bani Hashim if their possessions
warranted this under the prescribed limits, but under no
circumstances whatsoever were they allowed to accept anything out of
zakat collected from others.

There is,
however, a difference of opinion as to whether they should accept
anything out of the collections made from their own family or not.
Imam Abu Yusuf opines that they are allowed to accept these when
they are needy or poor or wayfarers, but the majority of the Jurists
regard this also unlawful.

64A
portion of Zakat Funds may also be given to win over to Islam those
who might be engaged in anti-lslamic activities or to those in the
camp of the unbelievers who might be brought to help the Muslims or
to those newly converted Muslims, who might be inclined to revert to
kufr if no monetary help was extended to them. It is permissible to
award pensions to them or give them lump sums of money to make them
helpers of Islam or submissive to it or at least to render them into
harmless enemies. A portion of the spoils or other incomes may be
spent on them and, if need be, also a portion of Zakat Funds. In
such cases, the condition of being needy or indigent or on a journey
etc., is also waived; nay, they might be even rich people or chiefs
who are otherwise not eligible for anything from Zakat Funds.

All are
agreed that during the time of the Holy Prophet pensions and gifts
were given under the head of 'winning over people', but there is a
difference of opinion whether this head of expenditure was abolished
or not after his death. Imam Abu Hanifah and his followers are of
the opinion that it was abolished during the Caliphate of Hadrat
`Umar, and `now it is not lawful to spend anything under this head'.
Imam Shafi`i is of the opinion that something tray be given to j
sinful Muslims under this head from Zakat Funds but not to
unbelievers, while other Jurists arc of the opinion that expenses
under this head are lawful even now, if a need arises for them.

The
Hanafis base their opinion on an incident that happened after the
death of the Holy Prophet. `Uyainah bin Hisan and Aqra`a bin Habis
came to Hadrat Abu Bakr and asked him to allot to them a certain
piece of land. So he gave them a written order for this. They took
it to some other highly placed Companions for further confirmation
and some of them endorsed this order. But when they took it to
Hadrat `Umar, he tore the paper into pieces before their very eyes,
saying, "It is true that the Holy Prophet used to give
something to win over your hearts because Islam was weak at that
time, but now Allah has made Islam so strong that it does not stand
in need of people like you. " At this they went to Hadrat Abu
Bakr and complained to him about it and taunted him, saying, "Are
you the Caliph or `Umar?" But he took no notice of this nor did
any of the Companions differ with Hadrat `Umar's opinion. The
Hanafis conclude from this incident that when the number and power
of Muslims increased by the grace of Allah and they no longer stood
in need of any support from such people; the reason for which
expenses under this head were permitted in the first instance
remained no longer there. Therefore the Companions unanimously
abolished expenditure under this head.

Imam
Shafi'i says that there is nothing to prove that the Holy Prophet
ever spent anything out of Zakat Funds under this head. All the
incidents mentioned in the traditions show that whatever he spent
for the purpose of winning over hearts to Islam, was spent out of
the spoils of war and not out of Zakat funds.

In my
opinion there is nothing to show that the expenses for winning over
hearts have been made unlawful for ever up to the Last Day. There is
no doubt that the action taken by Hadrat `Umar was absolutely right,
for if and when the Islamic State does not consider it necessary to
spend anything under this head, Islam does not make it obligatory to
spend something for `winning hearts'. On the other hand, if need for
this arises at any time, it is authorized to incur expenses under
this head for Allah has kept a provision for this. Hadrat `Umar and
the other Companions agreed only on this that there was no need to
give anything for this purpose at that time because the
circumstances did not warrant it. But there is no reason to conclude
from this that the Companions disallowed for ever the expenses that
were permitted by the Qur'an under certain circumstances for the
good of Islam.

As
regards the opinion of Imam Shafi`i, it appears to be correct in so
far as it is not lawful to spend anything under this head out of
Zakat Funds, if these expenses can be met out of other funds. But if
it is necessitated that something should be spent under this head
out of Zakat Funds, there is no reason why a differentiation should
be made in this regard between sinful Muslims and unbelievers. For
the Qur'an has not allocated the share because of the faith of the
prospective recipients but because Islam required to win their
hearts for its own good and because this could not be achieved
except by giving them a portion of wealth. Therefore the Qur'an
allows the Amir of the Believers to spend a part of the Zakat Funds
to achieve this end, if, when and where the required conditions
exist. The fact that the Holy Prophet did not spend anything from
the Zakat Funds on unbelievers for this purpose does not mean that
it is unlawful to do so, for he did not spend from this fund because
there was enough money in other funds for this purpose. Had it been
unlawful to spend anything from Zakat Funds on unbelievers, he would
have explicitly forbidden it.

65A
portion of Zakat Funds may be spent for the ransoming of slaves in
two ways. First, help may be given to a slave for the payment of the
ransom money, if he enters into an agreement with his master that he
will set him free, if the slave pays him a certain amount of money.
The second way is that the Islamic government may itself pay the
price of Iris freedom and set him at liberty. There is a consensus
of opinion about the first way, but there is difference of opinion
about the second way. Hadrat 'Ali, Said bin Jubair, Laith Thauri,
Ibrahim Nakh`i, Sha'abi; and Muhammad bin Sirin, Hanafis and Shafi''
is consider this as unlawful while Ibn, 'Abbas, Hasan Basri, Malik,
Ahmad and Abu Thaur consider this as lawful expenditure from this
Fund.

66Help
may be given out of Zakat Funds to such debtors as would be reduced
to a state of poverty, if they paid off all their debts out of their
own possessions, irrespective of the fact whether they are earning
any money or not, whether they are indigent in the general sense or
well off. According to some Jurists, the only exceptions to this are
those debtors who are spendthrifts or involve themselves in debts by
spending money on wicked deeds. Help may be given to them only if
and when they repeat.

67"The
Way of Allah" is a general term which unplies all those good
works which please Allah. That is why some Jurists are of the
opinion that Zakat Funds may be spent on every kind of good work.
But the fact is, and the majority of the earliest Muslim scholars
have opined, that here the 'Way of Allah' stands for Jihad in the
Way of Allah, that is, the struggle to eradicate the systems based
on kufr and to establish the Islamic system in their stead.
Therefore the Zakat Fund may be utilised to meet the expenses of the
journeys the people make, or for procuring means of conveyance,
equipment, weapons and other articles needed for Jihad, irrespective
of the fact whether they are so well off or not as to need any help
fur personal requirements. Likewise help of a temporary or permanent
nature may also be given to those people who devote the whole of
their time and energies, temporarily or permanently, for this work

It should
also be noted that there has arisen a misunderstanding regarding the
"Way of Allah," for the early scholars usually use for
Jihad the Arabic word as (ghazyah) which is synonymous with "fight".
They, therefore, are of the opinion that Zakat Fund may only be used
for the purpose of fighting. But Jihad in the Way of Allah is a much
more comprehensive term than mere fighting in the Way of Allah.
Jihad applies to all those efforts that are made to degrade the word
of kufr and to exalt the Word of Allah and to establish the Islamic
System of life, whether by propagating the Message of Allah in the
initial stage or by fighting in the final stage of the struggle.

68Help
from Zakat Fund may be given to a wayfarer on a journey even though
he might be quite well off at home.

Some of
the Jurists are of the opinion that according to this verse only
that wayfarer who does not undertake a journey for a sinful purpose
may be helped out of Zakat Funds. But no such condition has been
laid down in the Qur'an or the Hadith to this effect. Besides this,
we learn from the fundamental principles of Islam that the sins of a
needy person would in no way prevent us from helping him As a matter
of fact such a help may prove very useful in reforming sinful and
depraved persons. For if they get a support in the tithe of need, it
may reasonably be expected that they would turn towards purifying
their souls.

69This
was one of the charges which the hypocrites leveled against the Holy
Prophet. As he used to listen to everyone and let him say freely
whatever he had to say, they would find fault with him, saying, "He
is a credulous person. Everyone can approach him freely and may say
whatever he pleases, and he readily believes whatever he hears!"
Though it was a good thing that he heard everyone, the hypocrites
intentionally spread it as a vice, so that the poor and humble
Muslims should be kept away from coming near the Holy Prophet. The
hypocrites did not like that these true Believers should inform the
Holy Prophet about their plots, mischiefs and hostile talks. They
resented it very much that the Holy Prophet listened to and believed
in the talk of these humble people against such "respectable"
people as they.

70The
answer to this charge implies two things. First, "Though the
Prophet listens to everything, he attends only to that which is good
and is for the welfare of the Community, for he is not the one who
would listen to or encourage mischievous things." Secondly, "It
is good for yourselves that he listens patently to everyone;
otherwise he would not have allowed you to put forward lame excuses
for your negligence from the struggle in the Way of Allah. Had he
not been forbearing, he would not have paid attention to your false
professions of faith and hypocritical expressions of good wishes for
Islam, but would have taken you to task for your mischiefs and made
it difficult for you to live at Al-Madinah. It is thus obvious that
it is good for you that he listens to everyone."

71That
is, "You are wrong that he listens to everyone. He puts his
trust only in the true Believers. Accordingly, he believed only in
those things about you that were conveyed to him by good and
trustworthy people, who were neither liars nor tale-bearers.
Therefore, whatever they said about you was true and should leave
been taken as true."

72The
hypocrites were afraid that their secret plans would be disclosed in
the Qur'an to their great discomfort. Though they did not believe
that the Holy Prophet was a Messenger of Allah, they were convinced
from their experience of the last nine years or so that he possessed
some supernatural powers by which he learned their hidden secrets,
and revealed these through the Qur'an (which according to them was
written by himself).

73This
refers to the hypocrites who used to make fun of the Holy Prophet
and the true Muslims in their secret meetings when they were making
preparations for the expedition to Tabuk. In this way, they used to
discourage those Muslims who sincerely and honestly intended to go
forth for Jihad. We learn many things in this connection from the
traditions. For instance, in one of their meetings, when the
hypocrites were having a gossip, one of them remarked, "I say!
Do you think that the Romans are no better than the Arabs ? You will
see that in the near future these "brave" men will be
bound with ropes." Another responded to this, "What a fun
it would be if after this each one of them is lashed with a hundred
stripes! " Still another, ridiculing the preparations by the
Prophet for the expedition, remarked, "Look at this man, and
his preparations! He intends to go forth to conquer the forts in
Syria and the Roman Empire."

74That
is, "Those foolish buffoons, who take interest in such
conversations and mock even at serious things because there is
nothing serious in the world for them, may be pardoned. But there
are others who mock at these serious things deliberately with evil
intentions, because they consider the Messenger and the Way taught
by him as ridiculous in spite of their professions of Faith. As
their real object is to discourage the believers from making
preparations for Jihad, they are criminals and not buffoons;
therefore they shall not be pardoned at all."

75These
are the common characteristics of all hypocrites. All of them are
interested in evil and inimical to good. If some one undertakes to
do an evil thing, they would dedicate all their sympathies, counsels
encouragements contributions. good wishes, praises and their
approvals to such a one. They would join hands co accomplish that
evil thing and persuade others to take part in it and encourage tire
doer in every way. Moreover, they would show in every way their
hearty pleasure if they perceived that that evil thing was
progressing satisfactorily. On the other hand, if someone undertakes
to do a good thing, they are shocked to Bear the very news of it for
it pains their hearts; nay, they do not even like that such a thing
should be undertaken at all. Then if they see some one coming
forward to help it, they feel very uncomfortable and try their worst
to hinder him from it and if he does not give it up, they would wish
that he should fail in it. Then all of them have this common
characteristic that they do not spend anything at all for good ends
irrespective of the fact whether they be otherwise parsimonious or
generous. At any rate, their wealth is either for hoarding or for
evil deeds. As a matter of fact, they would spend large sums on evil
works generously but would not be willing to spend a farthing for
good things.

76In
the preceding verse, they were being mentioned in the third person,
but here they are being addressed directly in the second person.

79"They
wronged themselves" for they were themselves responsible for
their destruction. Allah had no enmity with them and had no desire
to destroy them. As a matter of fact, they themselves adopted the
way of life that led to destruction, whereas Allah had sent His
Messengers to them and afforded them the opportunities of thinking,
understanding and reforming. His Messengers admonished and warned
them of the consequences of treading wrong paths, and presented very
clearly before there the Way that leads to success, and also the
ways that lead to destruction. But when they did not benefit from
the opportunities that were offered to them to mend their ways, and
persisted in treading the ways that led to destruction, they
inevitably met with the end for which they were heading. And this
horrible end was not due to Allah's will to be unjust to theta but
due to their own evil doings."

80The
contrast between the characteristics of the hypocrites (v. 67) and
of the true Believers (v. 71) clearly shows that the two are
entirely different from each other, in spite of their outwardly
similar profession of faith in Islam and obedience to it. The
difference lies in their morals, conducts, habits, attitudes and
ways of thinking. On the one hand are the hypocrites whose tongues
are never tired of professing faith in Islam, but who are void of
sincere faith, and whose whole conduct belies their professions.
They are, as it were, like bottles which have labels of "musk",
but contain cow-dung which may easily be recognized from its
appearance and unpleasant odor. On the other hand are the true
Believers, who are like those bottles which contain musk which may
be tested in any way-by its appearance, its smell and other
characteristics-to be musk. Likewise, though the outward label of
Islam apparently makes both of them one community of Muslims, the
real characteristics of the hypocritical Muslims are so different
from those of the true Muslims that they have, in fact, become two
different communities. The hypocritical Muslims, men and women, form
a separate community with those who have similar characteristics.
They all are neglectful of Allah, take interest in evil things and
deviate from all that is good and never co-operate with tare
Believers and, in short, they are allies to one another and
practically dissociate themselves from true Believers and form a
group of their own. In contrast to them, the true Believers, men and
women, have practically become one community. All of them take
interest in what is good, and abhor what is evil: they remember
Allah day and night and cannot think of life without the constant
remembrance of Allah; they are very generous in spending in the Way
of Allah, and obey Him and His Messenger without any mental
reservations. These common characteristics have dissociated them
from the hypocrites and united them in one Community and trade them
allies to one another."

81From
here begins !he third discourse that was sent down after the
expedition to Tabuk.

82This
Command enunciated the change of policy towards the hypocrites. Up
to this time, leniency was being shown to them for two reasons.
First, the Muslims had not as yet become so powerful as to take the
risk of an internal conflict in addition to the one with the
external enemies. The other reason was to give trough respite to
those people who were involved in doubts and suspicions so that they
could get sufficient time for attaining to faith and belief. But now
the time had come far a change of policy. The whole of Arabia had
been subdued and a bitter conflict with the external enemies was
about to start; therefore it was required that these internal
enemies should be crushed down so that they should not be able to
conspire with the external enemies to stir up any internal danger to
the Muslims. And now it had become possible to crush them. As
regards !he second reason, these hypocrites had been given respite
for a period of nine years to observe, to consider and test the
Right Way, and they could have availed of it, if they had any good
in them. So there was no reason why any more leniency should be
shown to them. Therefore, Allah enjoined the Muslims to treat the
hypocrites on one and the same level with the disbelievers and start
Jihad against them, and to give up the policy of leniency Grey had
adopted towards them and adopt a fine and stern policy instead.

In this
connection, it should also be noted that this verse does not enjoin
the Muslims to fight with the hypocrites. It merely meant to end the
policy of leniency that had hitherto been adopted towards them. This
verse enjoined that they were no more to be considered a part and
parcel of the Muslim community nor were they to be allowed to take
part in the management of its affairs nor consulted about any
matter, so that they might not be able to spread the poison of
hypocrisy. This changed policy required that the true Believers
should expose all those, who adopted a hypocritical attitude and
conduct and showed in any way that they were not sincere allies to
Allah, His Messenger and the true Muslims. Each and every one of
such hypocrites should be openly criticized and reproved so that
there should remain for them no more place of honor and trust in the
Muslim society: they should be socially boycotted and kept away from
the consultations of the Community: their evidence in the courts of
law should be regarded as untrustworthy: the doors of offices and
positrons of trust should be closed against them and they should be
held in contempt in the social meetings. In short; every Muslim
should show by his behavior to such a one that there was no place of
honor or respect or trust for a hypocrite in the Muslim society.
Besides this, if any one of them was found to be guilty of
treachery, there should be no connivance at his crime, nor should he
be pardoned but openly tried in a court of law and should be duly
punished.

This
Command was urgently needed at the time it came. It was obvious that
in order to save the Muslim Community from fall and degradation, it
was essential to purge it of all the internal dangers to its
solidarity, because a Community, which nourishes hypocrites and
traitors and allows the internal enemies to flourish with honor and
security, wall inevitably be doomed to moral degradation and
ultimate destruction. Hypocrisy is a plague and a hypocrite is the
rat that carries and spreads its germs. Therefore to allow him the
freedom of movement in the society is to expose the whole population
to the danger of hypocrisy. Likewise, to give a place of honor and
prestige to a hypocrite is to encourage many others in hypocrisy and
treachery, for this shows that it is not sincerity, true faith and
its welfare that count in it. One may flourish and prosper in it
even if one verbally professes ;o be a Muslim and at the same time
indulges in dishonesty and treachery. The Holy Prophet has expressed
the same thing in a pithy saying. He said, "Whoso honors and
respects the inventor of new practices which are un-Islamic, indeed
helps to demolish the very structure of Islam."

83We
cannot say with certainty what that "word of unbelief" was
which they had uttered. There are, however, traditions that mention
several things of unbelief which were uttered by the hypocrites
during that time. For instance, it is related that a hypocrite,
while he was talking to a young Muslim, a near relative of his,
said, "If all that this man (referring to the Holy Prophet) is
saying be true, then we are worse than donkeys." Another
tradition relates that when, during the expedition to Tabuk, one of
the she-camels of the Holy Prophet went astray and the Muslims were
moving about in search of it, a party of the hypocrites made a good
deal of fun of this, saying to one another, "(Just consider the
Prophethood of this man! ) He tells news of heavens but cannot tell
where his she-camel is!'

84This
is a reference to the plots which the hypocrites had made during the
Tabuk expedition. On the return journey they conspired to pus!' the
Holy Prophet down into some ravine, while he would be passing over
some hill at night. The Holy Prophet got wind of the plot and
ordered that the army should take the longer route through the
valley round the hills, while he himself along with 'Ammar-bin-Yasir
and Huzaifah-bin-Yaman would make the short-cut over the hi" .
While they were on the way, suddenly they discovered that a dozen of
the hypocrites, with covered faces, were following them. At this
Hadrat Huzaifah tented towards them so that he may drive away their
camels but they were terrified when they saw him coming towards them
and took to flight lest they should be recognized.

The other
plot was to declare `Abdullah bin Ubayy as king at Al-Madinah as
soon as they should hear some 'bad news' about the Muslim army,
because according to their expectations, the Holy Prophet and his
faithful Companions could never fare well against tire armies of the
Great Roman Empire.

85This
is an insinuation to put to shame by an indirect suggestion the
hypocrites of AI-Madinah. This refereed to the prosperity of
Al-Madinah and its peoples, for Al-Madinah was a small town before
the migration of the Holy Prophet to it, and its two clans-Aus and
Khazraj-did not hold any high position in regard to wealth or
prestige. But within the short period of nine years or so, this
small town became the capital of Arabia because of the residence of
the Holy Prophet and the sacrifices of the Ansar, the true Muslims.
As a result of this, the former peasants-Aus and Khazraj of
AI-Madinah became the `Great Ones' of the Islamic State and wealth
began to flow into this central city on account of spoils of war and
increased commercial activity. The hypocrites were rebuked in this
verse that, instead of being grateful to the Holy Prophet, they
showed anger and spite against him for no other "sin" than
that he had brought forth prosperity among them.

86This
is an instance of their ingratitude for which the hypocrites were
rebuked in v. 74.

They
broke their covenant with Allah which enjoined them to spend money
in charity, if Allah enriched Them by His bounty. This shows that
they were confirmed criminals and they did not care in the least for
the agreements they made, and were niggardly and had no moral code
to observe.

87This
refers to the mean conduct which the hypocrites evinced on the
occasion of the appeal of the Holy Prophet for contributions towards
the Tabuk expedition. The well-to-do hypocrites did not themselves
make any contributions, but when the sincere Muslims came forward
with generous contributions according to their means, they began to
deride them. If a well-to-do Muslim made a handsome contribution,
they would at once accuse him to be guilty of a 'showoff . On the
other hand, if a poor Muslim contributed a paltry sum which he could
hardly spare after sacrificing some of the barest necessities of his
family or contributing the small earnings obtained by hard work,
they would at once ridicule, saying, `Lo! Here is the farthing that
will help conquer the forts of the Roman Empire!"

88This
verse was sent down to prevent the Holy Prophet from saying funeral
prayers for 'Abdullah bin Ubayy, the ringleader of the hypocrites,
who died a short while after the Tabuk Expedition. His son 'Abdullah
who was a sincere Muslim called on the Holy Prophet and requested
him to give his shirt for his father's shroud. The Holy Prophet very
generously granted his request. Then he begged the Holy Prophet to
lead his father's funeral prayer. The Holy Prophet agreed to this
also but Hadrat 'Umar very respectfully requested him repeatedly not
to do so, saying, "O Prophet of Allah! will you say funeral
prayer for a person who was guilty of such and such crimes and
sins"? The Holy Prophet, who was a blessing both for friends
and for foes, got ready to say funeral prayer even for that man who
was a deadly enemy of Islam. At last when he stood up to lead the
funeral prayer, this verse was sent down to prevent him from this by
a direct Command from God, in accordance with the changed policy
declared in v. 73 which forbade to do anything that might encourage
the hypocrites among the Muslims.

The above
incident led to the formulation of the regulation that the leaders
and prominent people from among the Muslims should neither lead nor
offer the funeral prayers of the sinners against Islam or for those
notorious for their disobedience to Islam. After this, whenever a
request was made to the Holy Prophet for a funeral prayer, he would
first inquire about the conduct of the deceased person. If he came
to know that he was a bad person, he would say to his people, "You
may perform his burial just as you like".

89"...they
do not understand anything now," for they deliberately and
intentionally chose the shameful way of staying at home with women,
when they were required to go forth for Jihad, though they were
healthy, physically fit and well-to-do, and professed Islam.
Therefore, according to the Divine Law of Nature. a seal was set
upon their hearts and they were bereft of those noble feelings which
make one feel ashamed of adopting such a disgraceful conduct.

90Here
the word "Bedouins" refers to those Arabs who lived in the
desert near Al-Madinah.

91The
hypocritical profession of Islam has been called the way of
unbelief, because that profession of faith which lacks practical
proof, surrender, sincerity and obedience, is, in fact, unbelief. As
such persons prefer their own interests and worldly desires to Allah
and His Way, they shall be dealt with by Allah as unbelievers and
rebels, even if they could not be legally treated as such in this
world but were considered Muslims due to their profession of faith.
This is because in the life of this world, the Islamic Law treats as
unbelievers only such hypocrites as are guilty of open unbelief,
rebellion, treachery or infidelity. That is why there are many cases
of hypocrisy that do not come under kufr in the Islamic Shari'ah.
However, this does not mean that if one escaped the penalty
according to the Islamic Code, one will escape punishment According
to the Divine Judgment also.

92This
implies that even those people who are otherwise excusable because
of disability, sickness or indigence will be pardoned only if they
are sincerely and truly faithful to Allah and His Messenger. Without
this fidelity, no one shall be pardoned merely because he was sick
or indigent at the time when he was called upon to go forth for
Jihad. For Allah does not judge merely by appearances and treat
alike and forgive all those who present "medical certificates"
of their disability because of sickness, old age or some other
physical defect. On the Day of Judgment, He will examine minutely
the heart of each and everyone, and take into account his whole
conduct, open and hidden, and will consider whether his excuse was
of a faithful servant or of a traitor and rebel. It is obvious that
each and every case, in spite of apparent similarity, requires a
separate and different judgment. For instance, let us take the case
of two men who suddenly fell ill on the eve of Jihad. One of them
thanked his lucky stars for the timely disease, as if to say, "How
lucky it is that I have fallen ill on the opportune moment!
Otherwise, this calamity of Jihad could not have been avoided and I
would have had to suffer it anyhow." On the contrary, the other
man was filled with sorrow at his illness, and he cried in anguish,
"Ah! what a bad luck! I have been attacked by this sudden
disease at the time when I ought to have been in the battle-field
instead of lying down here in bed!" One of them made his
illness not only an excuse for exemption from Jihad but also tried
to dissuade others from it. On the contrary, the other one, though
lying in the sick-bed, went on urging his own dear relatives,
friends and others to go forth to Jihad; nay, he entreated even
those who were attending him, saying, "Leave me in the care of
the Real Master, and go forth to Jihad. I am sure that the
arrangements for my nursing will be made somehow or other: therefore
you should not waste your precious chance for my sake but go forth
and serve the Right Way." But the other, who stayed at home,
spent all this time in spreading discontent and bad news and in
damaging war efforts and in disrupting the affairs of the families
of the fighters. The other man in similar circumstances did his very
best to make the home front as strong as he could. Though these two
men had similar excuses for exemption, they cannot be considered as
equal in the sight of Allah: the second one only may expect Allah's
pardon, and not the first man who was a traitor and rebel against
Allah, though he might have had a genuine excuse for exemption.

93Such
people as felt a strong urge for Jihad but could not join it because
of some really genuine excuse, will be counted by Allah among those
who actually took part in it, even though they could not join it in
person and do anything practically for it. This is because they were
sincerely grieved at their absence from Jihad for no fault of
theirs, just as a man of the world would be grieved if he were
deprived of some lucrative business or of some high profit. Allah
considers such a one as on duty, because his heart was serving in
the Way of Allah, though he had been deprived of active service on
account of some genuine excuse. The Holy Prophet, while returning
from Tabuk, stated the same thing like this: "There are some
people at Al-Madinah (at this time) who have been traveling and
marching all along with you through every valley. Naturally the
Companions to whom he was speaking were wonder struck at this. So
they asked, "While staying at Al-Madinah?" He replied,
"Yes, while staying at AI-Madinah! This is because they were
compelled by the circumstances to stay behind at AI-Madinah:
otherwise they would certainly have accompanied you. "

94The
Arabic words and are of the same root but have different senses in
the two sentences in which they occur. In the first sentence it
means, "... so that you may turn away from them and forbear
them and may not take them to task ...." In the second sentence
it means, "... so turn away from them and break off all
connections with them and have nothing to do with them, as if you
had broken off completely with them,, and they with you.''

95As
has already been stated in E.N. 90, the "Bedouins" here
refers to those rustic Arabs of the desert who had settled in the
suburbs of Al-Madinah.

The
background which may help one to comprehend the meanings of the
verse is this. Though these people had outwardly embraced Islam,
they had not done so from conviction. When they saw the rising of
the organized power of Islam in Al-Madinah, they were so overawed by
it that they could not ignore it. So at first they adopted the
attitude of the opportunists towards the conflict between Islam and
kufr. But when the power of the Islamic Government spread over the
major portions of Hijaz and Najd, and the power of its enemy clans
began to decline, they thought it expedient to enter the fold of
Islam. But there were very few among them who had sincerely accepted
Islam from the conviction that it was the Right Way. That is why
they did not make any sincere efforts to fulfill the implications of
the true Faith, and observe the obligatory duties imposed by Islam.
On the contrary, the majority of them had accepted Islam just
because it was the best policy for them. They merely desired to take
advantages of being "Muslims" in order to gain those
benefits to which they were entitled as members of the ruling party,
without performing those duties which became obligatory on them by
the very acceptance of Islam. Therefore they were utterly averse to
saying the prescribed Prayers, observing the Fast, paying the Zakat
dues from their date palm gardens and their herds of cattle.
Moreover, they smarted under the discipline of the Islamic State and
resented being subdued by any power for the first time in history.
Above all, it was against their very nature to make sacrifices of
their lives and wealth in the Way of Allah, as was being demanded by
Islam, for they were accustomed to fight only for plunder and
spoils. That is why they always invented one excuse or the other for
exemption from the restrictions and obligations that were being
imposed on them. For they had no interest in the Truth or the
welfare of humanity; their only concern was their camels and their
goats, that is, the narrow world around their tents. As regards
anything higher than these, the only thing which they could believe
in was irrational reverence for those who would guarantee their
worldly welfare and protect them from calamities and give them
amulets to safeguard them against haram and evil, and say prayers
for them as a recompense for their offerings to them. Hut they were
not prepared to accept any faith or belief that would bring under
its moral and legal discipline every aspect of their cultural,
social and economic life, and demand from them the sacrifices of
lives and wealth for the cause of a universal reform.

In this
verse, the above-mentioned mental and moral condition of the
Bedouins has been described like this: "These Bedouins are more
hypocritical than the urban Arabs and are more stubborn and obdurate
in their denial of the Truth. This is because the urban people make
use of the opportunities of meeting the learned and pious people and
thus learn the laws and regulations of the Way. On the other hand,
in all probability, the Bedouins will learn little about the Divine
Way, because they get few opportunities for this. Moreover, they
lead lives of "economic animals" rather than of human
beings having moral and spiritual values; therefore they do not
think of higher things than their animal urges.

It should
also be noted that the main cause of the subsequent storm of
rebellion and apostasy during the caliphate of Hadrat Abu Bakr two
years after the revelation of these verses (97-99) was the same that
has been mentioned therein.

96This
means that they regarded the payment of Zakat dues as a fine and the
expenditure on hospitality, an Islamic duty, a penalty. Likewise, if
they had to make any contributions towards Jihad, they did so to
show that they were loyal to the Islamic State and not because they
wanted to please Allah by giving sincere monetary help for His
cause.

97They
had become so expert in the art of hiding their hypocrisy that even
the Holy Prophet could not recognize them, though he possessed
immense sagacity and insight into human nature; so Allah informed
him about them.

98This
double chastisement will be the loss of their worldly advantages and
the victory of the Islamic Mission in the teeth of their opposition.
Thus one chastisement shall be the loss of their worldly benefits
for which they practiced deceptions and adopted hypocritical
attitudes, and instead of gaining wealth, honor and prestige they
shall meet with disgrace and utter failure. The second chastisement
will be in the shape of the victory of the Islamic Mission to defeat
which they exerted their utmost by their machinations and plots. But
the Islamic Mission will come out successful in the teeth of their
evil wishes, desires, intentions and vicious efforts and they
themselves shall witness its victory to their utter despair, regret,
grief and sorrow.

99In
this passage a clear line of demarcation has been drawn between the
hypocritical "Muslims" and the true Muslims, and
instructions have been given regarding the treatment that should be
meted out to the hypocrites. Therefore, the one who claims to be a
Muslim but dots not sincerely devote himself to Allah, His Way and
the Islamic Community, should be severely dealt with, if there is a
clear proof, from his conduct, that he lacks sincerity; or if he
offers anything in the Way of Allah, it should be rejected
forthwith: or when he dies the Muslims should neither join his
funeral prayer nor beg God's pardon for him, even though he be one's
father or brother. In contrast to this, if a believer is guilty of
some sin and confesses it, he should be pardoned, and his offerings
should be accepted and prayers should be said for his forgiveness.

As
regards the criterion by which it will be judged whether one is or
is not a hypocrite, though one might have been guilty of an act of
insincerity, three things have been implied in this passage:

(1) A
sincere follower will openly and clearly confess his sin without
offering any lame excuses and giving false explanations and
interpretations of his offense.

(2) It
will be judged from his previous conduct whether he was a habitual
offender or he committed the sin on the spur of the moment because
of some weakness. If he had been behaving like a righteous Muslim
and if his record showed sincere services, sacrifices and good deeds
to his credit, it will be reasonably concluded that he was not a
hypocrite.

(3) His
future conduct will be watched to see whether his confession was
verbal or there had really been a change of heart. If he sincerely
feels sorry for his sin and is anxious to compensate for it and his
whole conduct shows that he intends to eradicate the root cause of
the weakness in his Faith that misled him into the sin, it will be
concluded that he sincerely feels sorry for his sin and that he was
not a hypocrite but a sinful believer.

The event
that is connected with the occasion on which this passage was sent
down, makes this subject quite clear. It is related by the scholars
of Traditions that these verses were revealed in regard to Abu
Lubabah bin `Abdul Manzar and his Companions. Hadrat Abu Lubabah was
one of those people who had embraced Islam on the occasion of the
Oath of Allegiance at `Aqabah before the migration of the Holy
Prophet to Al-Madinah. He had taken part in the battles of Badr, Uhd
and other campaigns. But on the occasion of the Tabuk Expedition, he
succumbed to some inner weakness and stayed at home without any
genuine and lawful excuse. The same was the case of the other six
Companions, who were sincere Muslims. When the Holy Prophet returned
from Tabuk and they came to know that Allah and His Messenger had a
very bad opinion of those who had stayed behind, they were filled
with shame and regret. Therefore they tied themselves to a pillar
even before they were called upon to explain their conduct. Then
they declared, "We will neither eat anything nor sleep unless
we are pardoned or die in the same condition." After some days
they fell down in an unconscious condition because of hunger and
sleeplessness. When at last they were informed that Allah and His
Messenger had pardoned them, they went to see the Holy Prophet and
said, `Sir, we request you to accept from us as propitiatory
offerings our houses and the whole of our possessions. As these were
responsible for our sin of omission, we desire to give them away in
the Way of Allah. "But the Holy Prophet replied, "There is
no need to give the whole of your property for only one-third of it
will suffice."

A deep
consideration of this event clearly brings out the kind of
weaknesses that are pardonable. All of these people were not
habitual offenders and defaulters. Their whole past conduct showed
that they were sincere Muslims: none of them invented false
explanations to excuse themselves but confessed their sin. By
offering the whole of their properties as. propitiatory offerings,
they proved that they were really sorry for their conduct and wanted
to atone for their sin.

In this
connection, another important lesson should also be learned from
these verses. In order to atone for one's sins, one should give a
practical proof along with the verbal confession and heartfelt
regret. One way of this is to give charity in the Way of Allah for
this helps to cleanse the filth which was being nourished in the
heart and which was responsible for the sin. This not only
eradicates the hidden evil but also increases the capacity for good
works. For the confession of one's sin is like the feeling of one
who has fallen into a pit. He at once realizes that he is in a
critical situation in a pit, where he does not like to abide, and is
troubled over it. Therefore he thinks out plans for getting out of
it and makes practical efforts for this. Likewise the one who
confesses his sin and feels ashamed of it and takes practical steps
to atone for it by making offerings and doing other good works,
intends to come out of the pit of sin.

100"...
then you shall return to Allah ...." Who is the ultimate judge
of everything and from Whom nothing can be concealed. Therefore even
if one succeeds in hiding one's hypocrisy in this world or is judged
to be up to the standard in one's Faith and sincerity, it does not
mean in any way that such a one will succeed in escaping
chastisement for hypocrisy in the Hereafter also.

101The
case of these people had been deferred because it could not yet be
legally decided whether they were sinners or hypocrites and not
because their case was doubtful in the sight of Allah. This was
because the symptoms of their diseases had not as yet come to the
surface to indicate clearly which of the two they were. For Islam
teaches the Muslims not to pass judgment on a person or a party
unless they possess definite knowledge based on conscious reasoning
and not on intuition and the like to support it.

102"
. . the one in conflict . . . Messenger" was Abu `Amir who
belonged to the clan of Aus of Al-Madinah. He had become Christian
monk during the period of `ignorance' before the migration of the
Holy Prophet and was well-known as a scholar of the Scriptures and
was held in great reverence as a pious monk. But his scholarship and
asceticism, instead of leading him to the Truth, became hindrance in
the way. That was why he not only rejected Islam but also became a
bitter enemy of the Holy Prophet and his Mission, for he took the
Prophet for a rival in the "holy business" of priesthood.
At first he ignored the Holy Prophet and his Mission in the hope
that the power of the Quraish would suffice to crush him and his
Mission. But when the Quraish suffered an utter defeat in the battle
of Badr, he could no longer ignore it, so he started a vigorous
vicious campaign against the Islamic Movement. Accordingly he left
Al-Madinah and visited . different clans, in order to incite them
against Islam, and was one of those who brought about the battle of
Uhd. It is said that he had got some pits dug in the battle-field of
Uhd, and that the Holy Prophet fell into one of these and received
injuries. Then he played an important role in organizing the armies
which came to invade Al-Madinah in the battle of Ahzab. Likewise
this Christian Monk took a very active part in giving support to the
mushriks against Islam in all the subsequent battles up to the
battle of Hunain, At last when he realized that no power in Arabia
could withstand the onslaught of Islam. he left Arabia and went to
the Roman Caesar in order to warn him of the rising "danger"
from AI-Madinah. It was because of his efforts that the Caesar began
to make preparations for invading Arabia, to counteract which the
Holy Prophet went forth on the expedition to Tabuk.

Now let
us consider the background of the building of the `mosque' that was
built to harm the Righteous Mission.

A section
of the hypocrites of AI-Madinah collaborated wholeheartedly with Abu
`Amir in all the above-mentioned hostile activities against Islam.
They also fully agreed with him that he should use his "spiritual"
influence to obtain military help from the Roman Caesar and the
Christian states of northern Arabia. Accordingly, when he was
preparing to go to the Roman Caesar to urge him to invade Arabia.
they devised a plan of making a `mosque' of their own to serve as a
safe meeting place for organizing themselves into a separate party
because none would suspect that they were carrying on evil
activities under the garb of religion. Moreover. this `mosque' would
serve as an ambush for the agents of Abu `Amir who could stay in it
as travelers and mendicants without raising any suspicion that they
were spies of the enemy.

As there
were already two mosques in Al-Madinah-one at Quba and the other,
Masjid-i-Nabavi, in the city obviously there was no need for a third
one. The hypocrite's themselves understood this: therefore they
began to invent "reasons" to show that there was really a
need for a third mosque. Accordingly, they went to the Holy Prophet
and said, "We need another `mosque' because it is very
difficult for the people of this area, especially the old, the sick
and the disabled, to offer the five prescribed Prayers in either of
the two Mosques, during the winter season and the rainfall.
Therefore we intend to build a new `mosque' only for the convenience
of those who live at a distance from the two Mosques but are
desirous of saying their prayers in congregation."

With such
professedly pure motives, these mischief makers built the 'mosque'
and then went to the Holy Prophet with the request, "Sir,
please stand in this new 'mosque' and lead the congregation in one
of the prescribed prayers so as to perform its opening ceremony."
But the Holy Prophet postponed the matter, saying, "At this
time I am wholly engaged in making preparations for the expedition
to Tabuk. I shall consider the matter on my return home. "
After this he went forth to Tabuk, and they started their nefarious
activities. They went on organizing themselves and conspiring
against Islam in the `mosque' and decided to crown
Abdullah-bin-Ubayy as their king, as soon as the Muslims would meet
with reverses and be utterly crushed down by the Romans, as they had
expected. But their expectations were all frustrated by what
happened at Tabuk. Then on the revelation of these verses during the
return journey at a place, Zi Avan, near AI-Madinah, the Holy
Prophet dispatched some men to demolish the mosque' before his entry
into the city.

103In
order to comprehend fully the implications of this simile, let us
first consider the significance of the Arabic word ~~ (Juruf). This
applies to the brink of that piece of land which has been undermined
by a river or a stream, leaving its surface without any support. In
this meaningful simile the construction of the structure of life on
the Godless foundations has been compared to that building which is
built on the river brink, which has been undermined by its water. It
is obvious that the ignorant man who builds a structure on the
surface of such a piece of land, merely because it is a piece of
land, will not only lose the building but will also lose his own
life, for it will inevitably fall down into the river along with him
because it has nothing to support it. Likewise, the one who lays the
foundation of the structure of the system of his life on the surface
of worldly things, without any regard to God's fear or His favor
which are the only permanent supports of human life, is like the man
who builds his structure on the surface undermined by the river. For
such a man himself undermines the structure of his life by his wrong
deeds which inevitably follow if there is no bed-rock of God's fear
and His favor. Therefore the surface on which he had built his life
would one day inevitably tumble down into the abyss of Hell along
with the earnings of his whole life.

105That
is, these hypocrites have deprived their hearts of the capability of
receiving and accepting faith by the commission of the most heinous
sin of building a `mosque' to do harm to that very Islam for the
propagation of which mosques are built. This crime has set the
desire of disbelief so deep in their hearts that it will remain
there as long as they are alive and will leave them only at the time
of death when their hearts will cease to beat in their breasts.
Obviously, the case of such people is quite different from that of
those unbelievers, who openly build idol-temples or openly make
preparations for war against God. For it is possible that such a one
may get Guidance just because he is honest, sincere and bold.
Moreover, his open antagonism shows that he has the courage of his
convictions and may, therefore, accept Islam, when he would be
convinced of its Truth. But there is no hope for that cowardly lying
and cunning man who builds a 'mosque' for the service of kufr and
puts on the garb of God-worship for fighting against Allah's Way.
This is because a conduct like this kills all the noble sentiments
within him and renders him utterly incapable of understanding and
accepting Islam.

106In
this verse that aspect of the Islamic Faith which determines the
nature of the relationship between Allah and His servants has been
called a transaction. This means that Faith is not merely a
metaphysical conception but is, in fact, a contract by which the
servant sells his life and possessions to Allah and in return for
this accepts His promise that He would give him the Garden in the
Life-after-death. In order to comprehend the full implications of
this transaction, let us first understand its nature.

We should
note it well at the outset that, in reality, this transaction is not
in regard to the actual selling of the life and possessions of the
servant to Allah in the literal sense, for Allah is in fact the real
Owner of man's life and possessions. Allah alone has the right o
ownership because He is the Creator of man and of everything he
possesses and uses. Therefore there is no question at all of selling
and buying in the worldly sense; for man possesses nothing of his
own to sell, and Allah has no need to buy anything because
everything already belongs to Him. However, there is one thing which
has entirely been entrusted to man by Allah, that is, the freedom of
will and the freedom of choice, and the transaction concerns that
thing.

Of
course, it is true that this freedom does not make any change in the
real position of man with regard to the right of ownership to his
own life and his possessions. They belong to Allah Who has delegated
to him only the authority to use or abuse these things as he wills,
without any coercion or compulsion from Him. This means that man has
been given the freedom to acknowledge or not to acknowledge that
Allah is the owner of his life and property. The transaction
mentioned in v. 111 is concerning the voluntary surrender of this
freedom to Allah's Will. In other words, Allah wills to test man
whether he acknowledges the ownership of Allah over his life and
property, in spite of that freedom, and considers himself to be
their trustee only, or behaves as if he were their owner and so
could do whatever he liked with them.

Thus, the
terms of this transaction from Allah's side arc these: "If you
voluntarily (and not by compulsion or coercion) agree to acknowledge
that your life, your property and everything in this world, which in
fact belong to Me, are Mine, and consider yourself only as their
trustee, and voluntarily surrender the freedom I have given you to
behave, if you so like, in a dishonest way and yourself become their
master and owner, I will give you, in return, Gardens in the eternal
life of the Next World". The one who makes this bargain with
Allah is a Believer, for Faith is in fact the other name for making
this bargain. On the other hand, the one who refuses to make this
bargain, or after making it adopts the attitude of the one who has
not made the bargain, is a kafir for, technically, kufr is the term
applied to the refusal to make this bargain.

The
following are the implications of making this transaction:

(1) Allah
has put man to two very hard tests in this matter. The first is
whether he acknowledges the real Owner as owner, in spite of the
freedom of choice given to him, or he refuses this and becomes
ungrateful, treacherous and rebellious. The second test is whether
he puts his trust in his God or not, and surrenders his freedom and
sacrifices his desires and wishes in this present world in return
for His promise of the Gardens and eternal bliss in the Next World,
even though the world were to proclaim: "A bird in hand is
worth two in the bush".

(2) This
matter helps to draw a clear line of demarcation between the legal
conception of the Islamic Faith and the higher and spiritual one
according to which Allah will judge one in the Hereafter.

According
to its legal conception, the mere verbal profession of the articles
of the Faith is a sufficient proof that one is legally a Muslim and
after this no Jurist is authorized to declare such a one to be a
disbeliever or to expel one from the fold of the Islamic Community,
unless there is a definite and clear proof that the one made a false
profession of the Faith. But this is not so with Allah: Allah
considers the Faith of only that person to be true, who makes this
bargain with Him and sells his freedom of thought and action to Him
and gives up his entire claim to ownership in His favor. That is why
a man might profess the articles of the Faith and observe the
prescribed obligatory duties, but if he considered himself alone to
be the master and owner of his body and soul, his heart and brain
and his other faculties, his property and his resources and other
things in his possession, and reserved to himself the right of
expending them as he willed, he shall be regarded a disbeliever in
the sight of Allah, even though he should be regarded a believer in
the sight of the world. This is because such a man has not made that
bargain with God which is the essence of the Faith according to the
Qur'an. The very fact that a man does not expend his life and
property in the way Allah approves of, or expends these in the way
He disapproves, shows that the one who claimed to profess the Faith
either did not sell these to Allah or after having made the
transaction still regarded himself to be their master and owner.

(3) The
above conception of the Islamic Faith draws a clear line of
demarcation between the attitude of a Muslim and that of a
disbeliever towards life. The Muslim, who sincerely believes in
Allah, surrenders himself completely to Allah's Will, and does
nothing whatsoever which may show that he is independent in his
attitude, except when he temporarily forgets the terms of the
bargain he has made with Him. Likewise no community of the Muslims
can collectively adopt an independent attitude in political,
cultural, economic, social and international matters and still
remain Muslim. And if sometimes it temporarily forgets its
subordinate position and its voluntary surrender of its freedom, it
will give up the attitude of independence and readopt the attitude
of surrender, as soon as it becomes aware of its error. In contrast
to this, if one adopts the attitude of independence towards Allah
and makes decisions about all the affairs of life in accordance with
ones own wishes, whims and caprices, one shall be regarded to have
adopted the attitude of disbelief, even though one was a `Muslim' or
a non-Muslim.

(4) It
should also be noted well that the Will of God to which a man is
required to surrender himself is that which is specified by Allah
Himself and not the one which the man himself declares to be the
will of God. For in the latter case one does not' follow God's Will
but one's own will, which is utterly against the terms of the
transaction. Only that person (or community) who adopts the attitude
that conforms to the teachings of His Book and His Messenger, shall
be deemed to have fulfilled the terms of the transaction.

From the
above implications of this transaction, it also becomes clear why
the fulfillment of the terms by Allah has been deferred to the Next
World after the termination of the life of this world. It is obvious
that the Garden is not the return for the mere profession that the
buyer has sold his life and property to Allah "but it is the
actual surrender of these things in the worldly life and their
disposal by him as a trustee of Allah according to His Will."
Thus, this transaction will be completed only when the life of the
buyer comes to an end in this world and it is proved that after
making the bargain, he went on fulfilling the terms of the agreement
up to his last breath. For then and then alone, he will be entitled
to the recompense in accordance with the terms of the transaction.

It will
also be worthwhile to understand the context in which this matter
has been placed here. In the preceding passage, there was the
mention of those people who failed in the test of their Faith and
did not make the sacrifice of their time, money, life and interests
for the sake of Allah and His Way, in spite of their professions,
because of their negligence or lack of sincerity or absolute
hypocrisy. Therefore after criticizing the attitudes of different
persons and sections, they have been told in clear words the
implications of the Faith they had accepted: "This is not the
mere verbal profession that there is God and He is One, but the
acceptance of the fact that He is the Owner and the Master of your
lives and possessions. Therefore, if you are not ready and willing
to sacrifice these in obedience to the Command of Allah, but expend
these and your energies and resources against the Will of Allah, it
is a clear proof that you were false in your profession of the
Faith. For the true Believers are those who have truly sold their
persons and possessions to Allah, and consider Him to be their Owner
and Master, and expend their energies and possessions without any
reservations, where He commands them to expend, and do not expend
the least of these where He forbids them to expend."

107Some
critics say that the statement "this promise is contained in
the Torah and the Gospel" is not confirmed by these Books.
Their objection in regard to the Gospel is obviously wrong for even
in the existing Gospels there are sayings of Prophet Jesus that
confirm this verse. For instance:

"Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven." (MAT. 5: 10).

"He
that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for
my sake shall find it." (MAT. 10: 39).

"And
every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's
sake, shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting
life." (MAT. 19: 29).

It is,
however, true that the matter of this transaction is not confirmed
in its entirety by the existing Torah. For instance, there is a
mention of the first part of the bargain at several places in one
forth or the other:

. . .is
not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and
established thee?" (DEUT. 32: 6).

"Hear,
O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy might. " (DEUT. 6: 4-5).

But as
regards the other part of the bargain, that is, the promise of the
Gardens, they applied it to the land of Palestine:

"Hear
therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with
thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy
fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and
honey." (DEUT. 6: 3).

This is
because the Torah does not give any conception of the
Life-after-death, the Day of Judgment, Rewards and Punishments in
the Here-after, though this creed has always been an inseparable
part of the Right Way. This does not, however, mean that the Torah
did not originally contain this creed. The fact is that the Jews had
become so materialistic during the period of their degeneration that
they had no other idea of a reward from God than the well-being and
prosperity in this world. Therefore they perverted all the promises
made by God in return for man's service and obedience to Him and
applied those to the land of Palestine.

In this
connection, it should also be noted that the above-mentioned changes
became possible because the original Torah had been tampered with in
several ways. Some portions were taken away from it and others were
added to it. Thus, the Torah in the existing form is not purely the
Word of God but also contains the comments, etc. , of the Jewish
scholars mixed up with it. So much so that at some places it becomes
difficult to distinguish the Word of God from the Jewish traditions,
their racial prejudices, their superstitions, their ambitions and
,wishes, their legal interpretations, etc., all of which have got
mixed with the Word of God. (For further details please see E.N. 2
of Al-i-Imran).

108The
Arabic word (atta-i-bun) literally means "those who repent"
. But in the context it occurs it implies "those who possess
repentance as their permanent characteristic", that is, they
repent over and over again. Moreover, the literal meaning of
(taubah) is "to turn to" or "to turn back" .
Therefore its explanatory translation will be "....those who
turn back to Allah over and over again" . This is the first and
foremost characteristic of a true Believer because even a true
Believer is liable to forget the bargain he makes with Allah by
which he sells his life and property to Him. As this matter does not
concern his sense organs but pertains to his mind and heart, he is
liable to forget that these things are not really his property but
they belong to Allah. Therefore, even the true believer occasionally
forgets the bargain, and behaves in a way as if he were their owner.
But as soon as he becomes conscious of this transitory lapse and
realizes that he had violated the terms of his agreement, he feels
sorry and ashamed of his conduct and turns to his God, begs His
pardon and renews the terms of the bargain with Him, and pledges his
allegiance to Him after every slip of its violation. This kind of
repentance alone is the guarantee that one will always come back to
one's Faith: otherwise it is not possible for man because of the
inherent human weaknesses, to observe strictly and deliberately the
terms of the bargain without ever falling a prey to negligence and
error. That is why Allah says in praise of the true Believer that
".....he turns back to Allah over and over again" and not
that "he never slips into error after making the bargain of
obedience and service to Him" . And this is the greatest
excellence that man can accomplish. Let us now consider the wisdom
of placing this characteristics first in the list of the
characteristics of the true Believers. It is to admonish those who
had been guilty of crimes after the profession of their Faith, They
have been told in v. III that the true Believers are those who sell
their lives and property to Allah. After this they are being told
that if they sincerely intend to become true Believers they should
first of all create in themselves this characteristic and at once
turn to Allah without showing any obduracy so that they should not
deviate further into error.

109Some
commentators are of the opinion that here (Assn `ihun) means "
. . . those who observe fast" . As this is not the lexical
meaning of the word but only its figurative sense, which has been
based on an unauthentic tradition attributed to the Holy Prophet, we
are of the opinion that there is no need to depart from its lexical
meanings, that is,".....move about in the land (for His
sake...,... "). For here the Arabic word does not mean merely
to "...move about in the land" but "move about in the
land for the sake of noble and high aims, e.g. to propagate Islam,
to do Jihad, to emigrate from those places where the unbelievers are
in power, and to reform the people, to seek True Knowledge, to earn
a lawful livelihood and the like" . This characteristic of the
Believers has been especially mentioned here to reprove those who
had not gone forth to Jihad, in spite of their claim that they were
"Believers" . They have been admonished that a true
Believer is the one who goes forth into the land to raise high His
Word, and exerts his utmost to fulfill the implications of his
Faith, and not the one who stays behind when he is called upon to
move about in the land.

110That
is those who "strictly observe the limits prescribed by Allah .
. . . . " in regard to the Articles of the Faith,
worship-morality, social behavior, culture, economics, politics,
judiciary, peace and war- in short, in all the aspects of their
individual and collective lives. They neither transgress these
limits in order to follow their lusts nor invent laws nor replace
the Divine Law by other laws. They establish these limits and
prevent their violations. Hence, the true Believers are those who
not only strictly observe the limits prescribed by Allah, but also
do their very best to establish them and safeguard them so as to
prevent their violation to the best of their powers and
capabilities.

111"It
does not behoove . . . to pray for the mushriks . . . " implies
two things. First, we love them and sympathize with them. Secondly,
we consider their crime to be pardonable. There is no harm to
cherish these things for the one who is loyal, though a sinner, but
it is absolutely wrong in principle to love and sympathize with a
person who is an open rebel and to consider his case as pardonable
as it renders our own loyalty doubtful. Besides, it adds to the
intensity of the crime, if we pray for the forgiveness of a mushrik,
who is our near relative. For it means that we consider our
relationships to be more valuable than the fulfillment of the
implications of our loyalty to Allah and that our love with Allah.
and His Way is not wholly unalloyed and that we desire that Allah
should also be influenced by the love we have with His rebels and
pardon our criminal kinsmen, even though He should throw the other
criminals into the fire of Hell. Obviously, all such things are
wrong and are against loyalty and sincerity and the Faith demands
that our love with Allah and His Way should be absolutely unalloyed
and that His friend should be our friend and His enemy our enemy.
That is why Allah has not said, "Do not pray for the
forgiveness of the mushriks ", but has instead warned, It does
not behoove the Prophet and those who have believed to pray for the
forgiveness of the mushriks", which implies this: "The
right thing for you is that you yourselves should regard it as
improper to Show sympathy with Our rebels and consider their crime
as pardonable: nay, you should not wait for any Command from Us
about this."

In this
connection, it should also be noted well that it is forbidden to
show sympathy with the mushriks only in matters of Faith. As regards
the human relationships that demand the observance of the rights of
one's own relatives, of showing love, sympathy and kindness, and
cherishing fellow-feelings with them it is not forbidden at all but
it is considered to be a virtue. We must fulfill the worldly rights
of a relative whether he be a believer or a disbeliever: we should
help him in affliction and give support ,to the needy ones and the
orphans and show all possible 'sympathy with a sick or wounded
person, irrespective of whether he is a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

112The
reference is to what Prophet Abraham said when he broke off all
connections with his father:

(1).....Peace
be upon you. I will pray to my Lord to forgive you: for He is very
kind to me" . (XIX: 47).

(2) "And
forgive my father: indeed he is of those who have gone astray. And
disgrace me not on the Day, when mankind shall be brought back to
life; when neither riches nor children shall avail anyone, and none
shall obtain salvation except the one who comes before his Lord with
a sound and pure heart". (XXVI: 86-89).

(3). . .
. .I will pray for your forgiveness, but I have no power to rescue
you from Allah . . . . . " (LX: 4).

In the
first place it should be noted that even the wording and the tone of
the prayer for his father were very guarded, but when Prophet
Abraham realized that the person for whom he was praying was an open
rebel against Allah and a bitter enemy of His Way, he refrained
himself from saying even such a guarded prayer for him and declared
in clear words that he would have nothing to do with him in future,
even though the rebel was his father who had brought him up with
love and care.

113The
words (swab) and (hatim) which the Qur'an uses for Prophet Abraham
are very comprehensive in meaning. Avvah is the one who is
lamenting, humble, weeping, grief-stricken and God fearing. And
hatim is the one who can keep control over himself under all
circumstances, and is neither beside himself in anger and enmity nor
transgresses the proper limits in his affections, friendships and
relationships. Here both the words have been used in their
comprehensive senses. Prophet Abraham prayed for his father because
he was tender-hearted and lamented for him that he would become the
fuel for the fire of Hell. As he had full control over himself, and
was very forbearing, he prayed even for that father who had
persecuted him cruelly in order to hinder him from the Way of Islam.
Lastly, he was God fearing and did not want to go beyond the limits
in his love for his father; so he broke off all his relations with
his father when he realized that he was an enemy of Allah.

114"He
makes plain to the people. . . . " beforehand that they should
avoid such and such thoughts, deeds and ways. But if they take no
heed, and persist in wrong thinking and wrongdoing, Allah withholds
His guidance from them and lets them follow the wrong way they
themselves choose to follow.

This is
the general formula that helps understand those passages of the
Qur'an in which Allah ascribes to Himself the guidance and the
deviation of the people. Allah's guidance is that He makes plain to
them the Right Way through His Prophets and Books. Then He enables
those who have the intention, to follow the Right Way. On the other
hand, He does not force and compel them to follow the Right Way, if
they themselves intend to persist in the wrong ways in spite of the
fact that the Right Way has been made quite clear to them; He rather
enables them to follow the way they themselves intend to follow.

As
regards the context in which this occurs here, it is plain that it
is meant to warn those people who have been mentioned in the
preceding passage, and to introduce those who are .going to be
mentioned in the succeeding passage.

115Allah
forgave the Prophet and his Companions for those inadvertent lapses
that had been made in connection with the Tabuk expedition, in view
of their excellent services. The inadvertent lapse made by the Holy
Prophet was that he had given leave to stay behind to those people
who were able to take part in the Jihad. (v. 43).

116This
refers to those sincere Companions who were at first somewhat
unwilling to go to war on that critical occasion, but at last
overcame their weakness, for they had true Faith in their hearts and
loved the Right Way.

117That
is, Allah will not take them to account for their wrong
inclinations. for He does not punish a man for that weakness which
he himself has overcome and corrected.

118These
Three were among those who came to the Holy Prophet to present their
excuses for staying behind. More than eighty of them were
hypocrites, who put forward lame excuses and the Holy Prophet
accepted these and let them go. Then came the turn of these Three,
who were true Believers, and they confessed their fault plainly.
Therefore the Holy Prophet postponed the decision of their case and
ordered the Muslims not to have any social relations with them till
the decision of their cast came from Allah. This verse was sent down
to decide their case.

In this
connection it should be kept in mind that the case of these Three
was different from the case of the seven mentioned in E.N. 99. They
had inflicted the punishment on themselves before they were called
to account for their fault.

119The
Three whose condition has been described in this verse, were Ka`ab
bin Malik, Hilal bin Umayyah and Murarah bin Rubai. They were
sincere Believers, as has been stated above, and had made many
sacrifices and given proofs of their sincerity before this. The last
two had taken part in the battle of Badr also, and therefore their
Faith was above every kind of suspicion. Though Ka'ab had not taken
part in the battle of Badr, he had accompanied the Holy Prophet in
every other expedition. But in spite of all these services, they
were severely punished for the negligence they had shown on the
critical occasion of the Tabuk Expedition, when all the able-bodied
Muslims were commanded to go forth to Jihad.

When the
. Holy Prophet came back from Tabuk, he ordered the Muslims to break
away completely from them; so much so that they should not even
respond to their greetings. After forty days of this boycott their
wives also were ordered to have nothing to do with them. In short,
they were reduced at AI-Madinah to the same sad plight which has
been described in this verse. At last, after a boycott of fifty
days, this verse was sent down to announce their forgiveness.

The story
of the above-mentioned boycott has been described in detail by Ka`ab
bin Malik, who was one of the Three. When he became old and blind,
he himself told his story to his son, ' Abdullah, who used to
accompany him everywhere. As this story is an excellent lesson for
all, it is given below in Ka`ab's own words:

"When
the Holy Prophet urged upon the people to get ready for Jihad, I
made up my mind to make preparations for this. But when I went home,
I became negligent, saying to myself, `There is .no hurry: when the
time comes I will readily make preparations and start forthwith'. In
this way I went on putting off my preparations till the time came
when the army was going to start on the Expedition. As I had made no
preparations for the journey, I said to myself, `It does not matter:
1 will be able to join the army in a couple of days during the
journey' . But again the same negligence prevented me from putting
my intention into practice. At last no occasion was left for me to
join the army. To add to my misery my conscience pricked me over and
over again that the people with whom I had stayed behind in
AI-Madinah were either the hypocrites or those Muslims who were old
or otherwise unfit for Jihad.

"When
the Holy Prophet came back from Tabuk, he, as usual, said two
rak'ats of prayer in the Mosque. Then he sat there to meet the
people. At first, the hypocrites, whose number was a little more
than eighty, came to him and offered lathe excuses on solemn oaths.
The Holy Prophet listened to the false story of each of them and
accepted their apparent excuses and left the decision about their
hearts to Allah, saying, `May Allah forgive you' . Then it was my
turn to put forward my excuse. I went forward and uttered my
salutations. He smiled and said, `Well, what kept you behind?' (I
hesitated for a moment.) By God, I would have invented one excuse or
the other to satisfy any man of the world, for I am well versed in
the art of conversation. But here was the Holy Prophet who was
demanding an explanation from me. I believed that even if I
succeeded in satisfying him by making a false excuse, Allah will
inform him of the truth of the case and I shall again incur his
displeasure. On the other hand, if I told the truth, I expected that
Allah would forgive me, even though I were to incur his displeasure
for the time being. So I replied, `Sir, I have no excuse for staying
behind. I was in every way able to go forth (to Tabuk)' . At this
the Holy Prophet remarked, `This is the man who has told the truth'.
Then turning to me, he said, `Go and wait till Allah decides your
case'

"I
rose from there and took my seat among the people of my own clan.
They at once began to tease and reprove me because I had made no
excuse. At this, I was tempted to go and make some false excuse. But
when I came to know that there were also two good people (Murarah
bin Rubai and Hilal bin Umayyah), who had told the same thing that I
had, I felt satisfied and stuck to the truth.

"After
this the Holy Prophet issued a general order that no one should have
any kind of talk with us. The other two confined themselves to their
houses but I used to go out of my house and say my prayers in
congregation and walk through the bazaars. As nobody spoke to me, it
appeared to me that I was a foreigner in some strange city where I
had no acquaintances. When I attended the mosque, I would utter the
usual salutations and wait in vain for a response from the Holy
Prophet. I would turn stealthy looks at him to read his thoughts in
regard to me, but he would turn his eyes away from me, though he had
been looking at me while I was engaged in prayer. As this condition
became intolerable for me, one day I went to see Abu Qatadah who was
a cousin of mine and a friend from childhood. I climbed over the
wall of his garden and uttered my salutations, but even he did not
make any response to it. Then I said, `O Abu Qatadah ! I ask you to
tell me on oath whether I love or do not love Allah and His
Messenger' . But he remained silent. Again I repeated the question
but he kept silent. I asked him on oath to answer my question. Then
he merely replied, `Allah and His Messenger know best' . At this my
eyes were filled with tears, and I came back.

"Another
incident happened during, those days. Once I was passing through the
bazaar, when a Syrian came to me and gave me a letter wrapped in
silk. This was from the king of Ghassan and read like this: `We have
come to know that your Leader is persecuting you these days. As you
are not an ignoble person, we will not leave you to rot there.
Therefore come to us and we will honor you (as you deserve)' I said
to myself, `Here is another hard trial for me' . Then I threw the
letter into the burning oven.

"The
boycott continued for forty days, when a man brought this message
from the Holy Prophet that I should separate from my wife. I asked
whether I should divorce her but was told that I should only
separate from her. Accordingly I said to my wife, 'Go to your
parental home and wait till a decision comes from Allah. '

"On
the fiftieth day, when after the morning prayers, I was sitting in a
state of utter despair on the top of my house, all of a sudden some
one cried aloud, `O Ka`ab bin Malik! Please accept my
congratulations.' Hearing this, I fell prostrate to the ground
before Allah, for I understood that the Command of my forgiveness
had come After this, people began to pour in, each trying to
forestall the other in congratulating me on the acceptance of my
repentance. I rose and went directly to the Mosque. I noticed that
the face of the Holy Prophet was glowing with happiness and in
response to my salutations, he said, `I congratulate you on this: it
is the best day of your life.' I said, `Is this forgiveness from you
or from Allah?' He replied, `It is from Allah.' Then he recited
these verses (117-118). I asked, `O Messenger of Allah! Does my
repentance require that I should give the whole of my property in
charity?' He replied, `Keep a part of it, for it will be better for
you.' Accordingly, I kept my property at Khaibar for myself and gave
all the rest in charity. Then I solemnly pledged that I would stick
to the truth throughout the rest of my life, for Allah had forgiven
me in return for the truth I had told. That is why I have never
uttered a word against reality intentionally up to this time and
hope and expect that Allah will protect me from lies in future as
well. "

This
story contains many lessons, and every Believer should impress these
on his mind and heart.

The first
and foremost lesson we learn from this story is that the matter of
the conflict between Islam and kufr is so important and delicate
that we should take the greatest possible care to be on our guard in
regard to this. Not to mention the case of one who takes active part
on the side of kufr, if a Muslim shows the least negligence even
inadvertently in taking part on the side of Islam once in his life;
and that, too, not with any evil intention, he is liable to lose all
the lifelong services and devotions rendered by him in the cause of
Islam. That was why such a severe action was taken even against
those worthy people who had done great deeds of valor in the battles
of Badr, Uhd, Ahzab and Hunain, and whose sincerity and Faith were
absolutely above suspicion.

The
second thing, which is as important as the first, is that one should
never consider lightly any negligence in the performance of a duty,
for this often misleads one to commit an offense that is counted
among heinous sins. The fact that ore did not commit the offense
with any evil intention cannot save one from punishment.

Lastly,
this story presents the true spirit of the society that had been
evolved out under the leadership of the Holy Prophet. On the one
side there were the hypocrites whose treacherous deeds were quite
well known to all. They offered lame excuses which were accepted
without demur for nothing better could be expected from them. On the
other side, let us take the case of Ka`ab bin Malik, who was a tried
Believer, and whose sacrifices were above every kind of suspicion.
He did not invent any false story to justify himself but confessed
his fault quite plainly and clearly. But in contrast to the
hypocrites, a severe chastisement was inflicted on him, not because
there was any suspicion about his Faith but because a sincere
Believer like him had behaved in a way in which only a hypocrite
could behave. Thus the chastisement was meant to remind them: "You
are the salt of the earth. But if you, too, become tasteless, from
where will then salt be obtained?"

There is
another noteworthy side of the matter. The part played by the Leader
and the Follower and the Muslim Society in this incident is unique.
The Leader inflicts the most severe punishment but with the feelings
of affection and without any tinge of anger or hatred in it. It is
like the punishment which a father gives to his son, It is always
understood that the punishment is given for the good of the son, who
knows that as soon as he mends his ways, he will regain the fatherly
love. And the Follower sets an excellent example of obedience under
very trying circumstances. He suffers hard from the severity of the
chastisement but never thinks of rebelling against the Leader
because of any false personal or clannish pride; nay, he does not
cherish in his heart any complaint against his beloved Leader, but
begins to love him even more than before. During this saddest period
of his life the only thing he yearns for is a look of affection from
his Leader. For he is like a famine-stricken farmer whose only hope
is the piece of cloud which he sees floating in the sky.

Now let
us have a glimpse of the Muslim society, which displayed the
greatest discipline and the highest moral spirit that had ever been
shown by any society. No sooner does the Leader order the boycott
than the whole community becomes a stranger to the follower not only
in public but also in private. So much so that his nearest relatives
and closest friends do not even speak to him; nay, his own wife
leaves him alone. He implores them on oath to tell him if they
suspected his sincerity, but even his lifelong companions make a
point-blank refusal, saying that he should ask Allah and His
Messenger for that testimony. But in spite of the show of this
strict discipline, the moral spirit of the community is so high and
so pure that not a single person tries to take advantage of the
position of the fallen brother by adding insult to his injury; nay,
every one feels sorry for his brother in disgrace, and is important
to embrace him as soon as he is forgiven. That is why the people run
in haste to tell him the good news. to build.

The above
is the model of the Righteous community that the Qur'an aims

This
background makes it plain why Allah not only forgave them but also
manifested His Kindness; Gentleness and Compassion in His
Forgiveness to these people. It was because of their sincerity which
they proved during the fifty days of their chastisement. Had they
shown arrogance after the commission of their offense and retaliated
by taking angry and hostile actions as does every self-worshiper
whose pride is wounded: had they behaved during their boycott in a
manner as if they would break away from the community but never bow
down before it: had they passed this period in spreading
dissatisfaction in the community and gathering around them all the
disgruntled people in order to organize a strong "opposition"
against the Leader, then they would have most certainly been
expelled from the community, as if to say, "Go you now and
worship the idol of your self, for henceforth you will never be
given any opportunity for exerting to raise the Word of Allah".
But these Three did not adopt this way though it was open to them.
On the contrary, they took a different way, as has been seen, and
proved that God-worship had destroyed every idol that might have
remained hidden in their hearts: that they had dedicated themselves
entirely to the exertion in the Way of Allah: that while joining the
Islamic community they had burnt their boats to make it impossible
for themselves to go back anywhere: that they would put up with
every kind of treatment but would remain in the community and die as
a member of it and would scornfully reject any offer of an honorable
place outside it; and would rather bear disgrace in it. That was why
they were again taken in the community with the same honor as
before. This is the explanation of the kind words of forgiveness:
"Allah turned to them with kindness so that they should turn to
Him." In these concise words, the Qur'an has depicted the true
picture of the matter. The Master had at first turned away His
attention from His Three servants but when He saw that they had not
left His door but had remained there with broken hearts, He again
turned to them in appreciation of their fidelity so as to bring them
back into the fold.

120In
order to comprehend the meaning of this verse, v. 97 with which it
is connected, should be kept in view:

"These
Bedouins are most stubborn in unbelief and hypocrisy, and, in all
probability, will remain ignorant of the laws of the Way which Allah
has sent down to His Messenger."

In v. 97,
the Qur'an merely diagnosed the disease and pointed out its
symptoms. The Bedouins were suffering from the disease of hypocrisy
because of their ignorance of the laws of the Way of Allah. This was
so because they had not had any connections with the Center of that
knowledge. Here in this concluding portion of the Surah, the remedy
of that disease has been prescribed so that they should have an
understanding of Islam and its implications. It is not necessary
that for this purpose all of them should leave their homes and come
to AI-Madinah to learn that knowledge, but some of them should come
from each habitation, clan and region to the Centers of the
Knowledge (AI-Madinah, Makkah and the like) and understand Islam.
Then they should go back to their own habitations and create its
understanding among the common people.

This was
a very important instruction that was given at the opportune moment
to strengthen the Islamic Movement for, at that time, the people
were entering into the fold of Islam in large numbers without its
proper understanding. Obviously, this instruction was not needed in
the initial stages of the Movement, for at that tune everyone who
embraced Islam did so with its full understanding. No one would
think of becoming a Muslim without this as this was an invitation to
persecution. When the Movement became successful and won power in
the land, the clans and the habitations began to enter en bloc into
the fold of Islam. Naturally very few of them understood the full
implications of the Faith before accepting it, but the majority of
them were being carried into the fold, as it were, by the strong
current that had been generated by the Movement. Outwardly this
immense increase in numbers appeared to be a source of strength to
Islam, but in reality such people as had no true understanding of
Islam and were, therefore, not prepared to fulfill its moral
obligations, were not only useless for the Islamic System but were
actually harmful to it. This side of the matter became quite
apparent during the preparations for the Tabuk expedition. That is
why Allah sent down the instruction that necessary steps should be
taken for the integration of the Islamic Community so that it may
keep pace with the immense increase in its number. Therefore some
people should be brought out from every habitation and taught and
trained in the requirements of Islam and these in their turn should
teach and train their own people so that the whole Muslim population
should understand Islam and obtain the knowledge of the limits
prescribed by Allah.

In this
connection, it should also be clearly understood that the Command
about mass education given in this verse is not merely about
literacy but it had the definite aim of imparting the understanding
of the Way of Islam among the masses and enabling them to refrain
from un-Islamic Ways. This is the real and permanent aim of
education that has been set before the Muslims by Allah Himself.
Therefore every system of their education shall be judged by this
criterion and shall be regarded Islamic only to the extent it
fulfills this aim. It does not, however, mean that Islam is against
the spreading of literacy and teaching of the purely mundane
subjects to the masses, but it simply means that the primary aim of
the Islamic Education should be the achievement of the objective
which has been mentioned above in italics. Without this, it does not
consider any education to be education at all, even if it were to
produce Einsteins and Freuds of the age.

It will
be worthwhile to consider the true significance of the words used in
the context, for they created a strange misunderstanding among the
people of the later period, and produced lasting poisonous effects
on the religious education of the Muslims, nay, on their whole
religious life in general. It is obvious that Allah used these words
in order to lay down the objective of education before the Muslims,
which was this: to understand the Islamic Way of life and have an
insight into its system: to be familiar with its true nature and
spirit so as to be able to judge and differentiate between the
Islamic and the un-Islamic ways of thought and conduct in every
aspect of life. But later on when the knowledge of the Muslim Law
was given the technical name of (fiqh), it gradually developed into
the science of the details of external form (as opposed to the
spiritual aspect of the Islamic Law). As the word (fiqh) is of the
same root as used in this verse, a misunderstanding was created that
this Command of the Qur'an was about acquiring the knowledge of fiqh
in the above-mentioned sense. It is true that this knowledge is of
great importance in the Islamic System of life, but it is not all
that is required by the Qur'an but only a part of the objective. It
is not possible to recount here all the damages that the Muslim
Community has suffered because of this misunderstanding, but suffice
it to say that this is the thing, which is responsible for reducing
the religious education of the Muslims to the knowledge and
interpretation of the external form of Islam without paying any
attention to the spirit of Islam. This inevitably resulted in making
lifeless formalism the ultimate goal of the life of the Muslims.

121From
the apparent wording of this verse, it may be inferred that only
those Muslims have at first been held responsible to fight with
those enemies of Islam who live near their territory. But if we read
this verse along with the succeeding passage, it becomes clear that
here "disbelievers who are near you refers to those hypocrites
who were doing great harm to to Islamic Society by mixing up with
the sincere Muslims. This very thing was stated in v. 73 at the
beginning of this discourse. The Command has been repeated at its
end in order to impress on the Muslims the importance of the matter
and to urge them to do Jihad and crush these internal enemies,
without paying the Least regard to the racial, family and social
relations that had been proving a binding force with them. The only
difference between the two Commands is that in v. 73, the Muslims
were asked to do Jihad with them, while in this verse stronger
words, "fight with them" , have been used, which were
meant to impress on them that they should crush the hypocrites
thoroughly and completely. Another difference in the wordings is
that in v. 73, two different words, "disbelievers and
hypocrites", have been used, while in this verse only one word,
"disbelievers", has been used so that the hypocrites
should forfeit all their claims as Muslims, for there was room for
this concession in the word "hypocrite"

122This
is meant to impress that they should not, in future, show the
lenient treatment they had been meting out to them up to that time.
This has already been commanded in v. 73: "be firm and stern
with them".

123This
warning has two-fold meanings and both are implied here. First, "If
you show any kind of leniency towards them because of your personal
or family or economic connections with them, you should know that
such a thing shall be against the fear of God', for the fear of God
and friendly relations with the enemies of Allah are contradictory
things. Therefore, you should give these up, if you desire to obtain
Allah's help". Secondly, "You should scrupulously observe
the moral and humane limits in doing Jihad, and in fighting with
them. For you should always keep yourselves within the prescribed
limits in everything. If you transgress these in any way, you should
know that Allah will forsake you for He helps only those who are God
fearing.

124As
regards the increase and decrease in Faith. disbelief and hypocrisy,
please refer to E.N.2 of Surah Al-Anfal.

125That
is, during the course of every year such circumstances are created
as put to test once or twice their claim to the Faith, and these
disclose that their profession of Islam was like a counterfeit coin.
For instance, some time their Faith is tested by (a) a Commandment
of the Qur'an which lays some new restriction on their lust, or by
(b) a demand of the Faith that hits hard at their self interests, or
by (c) an internal dispute which discloses their preference for
worldly interests and for their personal, family and clannish
relations to Allah, His Messenger and the Faith, or by (d) a war
that requires the sacrifice of their lives, wealth, time and
energies. All these tests help bring to the open that filth of
hypocrisy that lay hidden in their hearts under the garb of the
profession of Islam. Besides, these things increase that filth which
had already gathered in their hearts because of their deviations
from the implications of the Faith.

126This
happened when the hypocrites had to attend a meeting that was
specially hold for the recital of some new surah. The Holy Prophet
used to recite as an address every new surah before the assembly.
The true believers would listen to it very attentively and
respectfully. But the hypocrites, who had to attend the meeting to
show that they were "Muslims', would sit listlessly in the
meeting for they had no interest in the recital. But when they would
be assured that their "attendance" had been marked, they
would look for an opportune moment to slip away without being seen
and noticed.

127"Allah
has turned away their hearts from the Qur'an, because they do not
understand that it is in their own interest to listen to the Qur'an
and to act upon its teachings. These foolish people do not realize
that by ignoring the Qur'an and the Holy Prophet, they in fact,
deprive themselves of a great blessing. As they are deeply engaged
in their own narrow interests, they do not see that the great
knowledge of the Qur'an and the right guidance of the Holy Prophet
has the potentiality of making them the leaders of this world, and
of bringing salvation to them in the Next World. As a result of
their folly and neglect of the great blessing, Allah has, in
accordance with His Law, deprived them of the capacity of making use
of this blessing and "turned away their hearts" from it.
That is why these unfortunate, people do not even feel the great
loss they are suffering, while the blessed people are taking full
advantage of this great fountainhead of power and strength and are
preparing themselves for achieving the greatest success that human
beings could ever achieve.